In a different world
by Kbeckettcastle
Summary: Even though they never dated in high school. He still thinks she was the one who got away. (Voting closed)
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you all for the votes on the poll. The winner is**

**Au Rick second marriage has failed. He goes to sleep that night and when he wakes up. He wakes up in au world where he hasn't been married before and meets Kate. **

**I changed the meeting a bit but I hope you still like it.**

**And also sorry about the editing I will get it fixed once my internet is not being slow.**

**Please Leave your thoughts.**

Gina Cowell sighed and crossed her arms waiting for the lift to close she just wanted to get out of these building. Marriage what on earth was she thinking she didn't do relationship she did flings not the boyfriend-girlfriend or let's spend the rest of our lives together.

Rick walked into the lift and she rolled her eyes and then the lift closed. "Couldn't you took the stairs?" She snapped at him. "I have a question to ask you?" He snapped back.

"What?" She growled. "Where's my dog?"

"You and that damn dog."

"Were over Gina and I would like my dog back."

"I'll have it sent over."

"Fine." Rick said having the last word.

/

He was a free man now and he could do anything he pleased. He opened up a beer and put it a fancy coffee table Gina had brought without a coaster he then put his feet up on the table and turned on his Xbox. It felt good to able to relax without someone nagging him to write every day and every night. There was a loud knock at the door he paused the shooting game and walked to answer the door. He opened the door to see his doorman and his dog on a leash.

"Pepper," Rick said getting on his knees to pat the brown husky.

"Have a goodnight Mr Castle." Eddie said with a smile.

"You too Eddie." Rick said bringing in Pepper and closing the door.

/

Rick was in the kitchen stirring the spaghetti and the pasta while Pepper was sitting right next to him. "I know you can't have pasta but why not." Rick said putting some spaghetti and sauce in her dog bowl. "Taste better than that fancy stuff the witches sister gave you isn't it." Rick said as Pepper gobbled down the pasta.

As Rick was getting ready for bed. Pepper was smelling the sheets and started whimpering when she picked up some of Gina's scent.

"Sorry girl she had to sleep somewhere." Rick said patting her head.

Pepper jumped off the bed and laid down on the rug in front of the bed.

"Okay I'll watch them again tomorrow." Rick said turning off the light.

/

He turned on the office light in the middle of the night he couldn't sleep. Rick opened up a box that held all his high-school yearbooks.

There was a photo on top of his yearbooks. "Where are you guys now?" He asked tracing the photo it was of his friends Javier,Ryan,Lanie,Jenny and Kate..Kate Beckett they never dated but he still thinks she's the one he was supposed to bewith the one he was supposed to be with.

But he never spoke up and told her his feelings he let her slip away. Rick opened up his laptop and did a google search on his old friends.

He found Ryan's facebook first his profile picture was of him and Jenny at what looks like a wedding and his cover picture is a toddler and a baby. He always knew Ryan and Jenny were going to have a future.

He found Javier's facebook next his profile picture was a selfie of him which was no surprise to him and his cover photo was of him,Ryan,Lanie and Kate at Ryan's wedding.

He closed his laptop and went back to bed thinking about Kate. He met his friends in middle school all them were left without a group so they formed their own group they saw each other through the bad and good. They promised at gradation that they would always be friends.

All of them had lived up to the deal expect for him. He didn't even get invite to Ryan's wedding.

Rick wondered how life would have been different if he had told Kate his feelings. Would he and Kate got married had a couple of kids would they been happy.

He would give anything to have what Jenny and Ryan had for a second chance with Kate but it was too late most likely.


	2. Chapter 2

**In this chapter, Rick has time traveled back to high school. **

**The characters are set in the 90's. **

**Please leave me you're feedback in the review box.**

"Richard I don't know how long breakfast is going to stay hot so come and get it now." His mother shouted.

"Alright mother" He shouted back pushing back his star wars sheets. Half asleep Rick walked to his dresser and got out some clothes and sprayed a lot of deodorant under his arms. The processed down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Darling I know deodorant is important, but there is such a thing as over doing it," Martha said when he reached the kitchen.

"It's hot out and I have gym today."

"Anyway,are you going to have some breakfast?" She asked.

"I would like to go through my day mother without food poising," Rick said picking up his bags and heading out the door.

/

His stomach growled and he was starting to regret skipping breakfast. But if he had eaten the breakfast he would be in the boys bathroom throwing up.

"Hey,Rick." Kate said walking beside's him.

"Hey, Katie."

His stomach growled again and he hoped Kate didn't notice.

"Martha made breakfast again?" Kate asked.

"Yep."

"I have a muffin you could eat," Kate said starting to search through her bag.

"Thanks, Katie, I have maths first period and I can't think on an empty stomach."

"Well, I better get to history before my teacher gets there."

"Bye, Katie." He said as she turned around and walked to her class.

/

"Rick my bro," Espo said as Rick sat down next to him with a big grin on her face.

"Yes I did the homework," Rick said looking through his bag.

"Alright lay it on me."

Rick put the math sheet in front of him and Espo started to copy the answers.

"Epso I have been doing this for years are you ever going to pay me back."

"I don't know, I'll get back to you," Espo said patting his back.

"Well, then I'll just take this back," Rick said grabbing his sheet.

"Okay, I'll do you a favour," Espo said snatching the sheet back.

"What is it?"

"I'll get rid of your Star Wars bed sheets."

"What's wrong with my Star Wars sheets?"

"Nothing unless you want to remain a Virgin to the day you die."

"Maybe some girls are into that thing."

"Dream on bro," Epso said starting to laugh.

/

"Kate please knock some sense into my bros head by telling him that his Star war sheets will never get him laid," Espo said putting his lunch tray down.

"The sheets aren't that bad," Rick said.

"Didn't you get those sheets when you were ten." Ryan asked.

"At least I don't wet the bed." Rick snapped.

The whole table bursted out in laughing and then started bursting out in tears from laughing so much.

"I had too much fizzy drink and plus that movie was scary." Ryan defined himself.

"Anyway back to my question," Espo said.

"The only way your going to get laid is if your book a hotel room and never let her see the bed sheets." Lanie said.

"It doesn't matter to me what his bed sheets are just as long as it's special and he loves me and I love him," Kate said.

"I think you have been watching too many chick flicks," Espo said.

"Well sorry, I'm not easy." Kate rolling her eyes at Espo.

/

Rick sat next to Kate after he got out of dodge ball. "You hardly get out Katie," Rick said to her.

"Do you think Espo was right?" She asked.

"I think he meant it to come across as a joke."

"You're right," Kate said shaking her head.

"Did you mean what you said?" Rick asked her.

"Yeah, my parents are always telling me to make it special and that's what I want and to also make sure that they love me and I love them."

"My mother made a play out of the talk," Rick said embarrassed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Kate said.

"What are you doing in the Summer?" Rick asked her.

"Well, Maddy is having a pool party nearly every day and Carly's brother can get her into night clubs so of course she wants to go. So I will be dragged to them."

Kate said rolling her eyes her parents were friends with Carly's and Maddy's parents which made her friends with them but she didn't want to he in the popular group.

"Well, I was going to invite the group to the Hampton's."

"I think you just want to see me in a bikini?" Kate said grinning.

"Maybe."

"What if I owned a one piece?" Kate asked.

"Well, there's always Lanie," Rick said and Kate started to pull his ear. "Apples, Apples," Rick said moving around in pain. When she finally stopped pulling his ear he rubbed his red ear.

"I swear it hurts more each time you do it."

"Oh don't be such a baby."

/

"So do you want to come over tonight my parents are going to a charity dinner and I don't want to be alone?" Lanie asked Kate as Kate was putting all her books in her locker.

"Mine are going out to a business dinner mind if I sleepover?" Kate asked.

"Yeah of course and you know the boys are coming Including Rick," Lanie said nudging Kate's elbow. "I could rig spin the bottle," Lanie added.

"Spin the bottle really Lanie?" Kate said closing her locker.

"Well, I don't know another, games were people kiss."

"How about we just order some pizza and watching some movies."

"You do realise that the fake stretching and then put his arm around your shoulder only happens in movies and tv shows?" Lanie asked as they started to walk to the bus.

"You do realise boys and girls can just be friends?" Kate said getting on the bus.

"Fine," Lanie said as they sat on the back seat next to Jenny as they waited for Espo ,Ryan and Rick.

/

"Finely," Lanie said as the boys sat down.

"Espo and Rick thought making paper airplanes would be fun the teacher didn't think so," Ryan said bitterly.

"Anyway are you guys coming over?" Lanie asked.

"I can't," Ryan said.

"Why past your bedtime?" Espo asked.

"I don't have a bedtime and I can't go out on school nights," Ryan answered.

"I can come," Rick said.

"I'm in too," Espo said.

"What about you Jenny?" Lanie asked.

"I'll see if I can come."

"The tv in the basement is only working, So me and Espo will sit on the bean bags, Kate and Rick can sit on the lounge cause the lounge is an only a two seater."

"I don't like beanbags but," Epso said and Lanie elbowed him in the side.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to Frank for editing my chapter. **

**Please leave feedback.**

Lanie pulled Espo off the lounge, and threw him onto the beanbag. "Are you going to help me set them up, or not?" Lanie said to Espo.

"Yeah, but how is sitting on a beanbag going to help?"

"It's either the beanbag or the floor." Lanie said, crossing her arms.

"Fine I'll sit on the beanbag." Espo grumbled. "So where is the pizza, soda and all the other food?" Espo asked.

"They're upstairs, with the VHS."

"Well why aren't they down here?" Espo asked.

"Cause we will have to make so many trips upstairs giving Kate and Rick some alone time since Jenny and Ryan aren't coming."

"Won't they figure it out?"

"Trust me, it will be fine."

"Whatever you say, Lanie."

/

Kate was packing for her overnight sleepover at Lanie's. Normally she would just pack sweat pants and a jumper, but Rick was going to be at Lanie's.

She had crushes before, but Rick was different to her other crushes. Her heartbeats felt like a drum in her chest at the sight, or thought of him.

With her other crushes, she would get butterflies in her stomach, but with Rick she would get a whole zoo in her stomach.

So many times had she wanted to grab his face and kiss him. How badly her fingers wanted to run through his hair.

Kate opened her drawers for what felt like the hundredth time. She groaned as she realized that most of her sleepwear was sweat pants and different colour jumpers.

/

Why did he have to own so many superhero tops? He searched and searched but the only sleepwear tops he could find were superhero.

He wanted to impress her. How was he going to impress her with superhero tops? Then an idea popped into his head. His brother Joseph was out with his douche bag friends, so Rick decided to sneak into his older brother's room and get Joseph's Mets jumper. Kate loved baseball.

He entered Joseph's smelly and messy room. "Come on, where is it?" Rick said to himself. "Where's what?" His brother said at the doorway making Rick jump and start his heart racing.

"Get out of my room, loser." Joseph said grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him out the door and was about to slam the door when Rick grabbed it so it wouldn't shut.

"Please Joe, I need your Met's jumper."

"Why?"

"I'm sleeping over at a friends and the girl I like is going, All I have is superhero tops and plus the girl likes baseball."

"Fine but I don't know how the jumper is going to help you." Joseph said grabbing it off the floor and throwing it to Rick.

"Thanks Joe."

"Yeah, yeah." Joe said slamming the door.

/

The group watched four of the six movies that were rented when they crashed into the airbeds that were set up in Lanie's lounge room upstairs cause there was no space in the lounge room downstairs.

The boys grumbled and moaned about wishing they could take back the food experiments earlier which seemed like a good idea at the time. Meanwhile, Lanie and Kate would tell them over and over again 'We told you so'

Another one of Lanie's plans was in action. Lanie had claimed to them that the other two single airbeds were broken forcing them to share the big airbed.

It was midnight when Rick woke up, but it wasn't 'cause he had to throw up. His stomach had finally settled. But he looked over at Kate, who was cold and only had half the blanket on her. That's when he realized that he had dragged the other two blankets to his side.

He rolled over closer to Kate and draped the two blankets back over her. He realized soon that when he fell back asleep he would hog the blankets again, so he decided to cuddle with her. Weird he knew, but he didn't want her to be cold so he wrapped an arm around her and went back to sleep with a smile on his face.

The next morning Kate woke up to a warm presence against her back and a arm wrapped around her waist. She elbowed him a little bit to get him to wake up when he did he groaned and rubbed his eyes he moved over a bit so Kate had some room. She sat up and he joined her.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I was hogging the blankets and you looked cold so I... um yeah." Rick whispered awkwardly.

"Thank you." Kate whispered back to him hoping Lanie hadn't seen anything.

"Your welcome." He whispered back. "Look Kate I was actually hoping I could talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

"I've had this massive crush on you for I don't know how long so I was thinking.."

Before Rick could finish his sentence, he was cut off by Kate's lips touching his.

"I've had a massive crush on you too." She whispered pulling back from the kiss.

"Yeah, I can see that." Rick said still in shock that she had kissed him and felt the same way.

"I wanted to tell you for sometime. I'd wake up and I think; Is this going to be the day I tell him? But I never do. Sometimes it scares me 'cause I thought; What If I never tell him, what does it mean? Do I lose him, or will I still have my chance." Kate said feeling embarrassed that she had said that but she was no longer holding back on her feelings.

"I fear that too." He admitted to her.

"Its pretty early, we should get more sleep, I'll try to not to hog the blanket's like last time." he joked.

"Or we could cuddle again. I really liked it." Kate shyly smiled at him.

"What about Lanie?" Rick asked.

"We could cuddle and talk so we know when Lanie is going to wake up cause I want to keep us private for a little while, that's if there is an us?" Kate said hoping that the answer was yes.

"Yeah, there's an us ." Rick said, lying down.

Kate joined him by laying her head on his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist. Rick placed a soft kiss to the top of her head and then his fingers started to trace her arm.


	4. Chapter 4

Elliot was the new kid and he opened the squeaky locker and started to put his stuff in. He slammed his locker closed 'cause that was the only way to close it.  
When he closed the locker, he saw a beautiful brunette with olive skin next to him. "Hi." Elliot he said loudly to her over the excited teens about Friday afternoon.  
"Hi." The brunette said smiling.  
"I'm Elliot." He introduced himself.  
"Kate."  
"Noisy, huh?" He said to her.  
"Yeah it is." Kate said closing her locker and disappearing into the coward.  
"Damn it." Elliot said slamming his fist on the green locker. Elliot started walking towards the front of the school in order to walk home. He should have asked her out, or got her number.  
"Elliot, sweetie." His mother called out and was waving her arms at him, which made Elliot go red in the face with embarrassment.  
"Can you not?" Elliot snapped at his mother when he reached the car.  
"Sorry honey you just looked upset what happened?"  
"Nothing." Elliot said opening the car door and slamming it closed.

Elliot walked into his maths classroom on Monday and looked for a empty seat when his eyes found the brunette again. He walked up to the back of the classroom and sat on the empty sit next to her.  
"Hi, again." He said to her.  
"Hi."  
"Is anyone sitting here?" He asked her.  
"Lanie normally does, but she's away."  
"Well when she comes back I could move over. D you mind if I sit here for today?"  
"Good plan to me." Kate smiled back at him. "So how's your second day going?" Kate asked again.  
"Well, it's only first period, but so far, so good."  
"You liking New York?" Kate asked him again.  
"Yeah but I have a question for you?" Elliot asked nervously.  
"What is it?"  
"If I was to take a girl out on a date, where could I go?"  
"Depends on the girl?" Kate said. "Who is it that you want to ask? Maybe I know them."  
"It's you." Elliot said ducking his head.  
"Oh... Sorry, but I kinda got something going on with someone." Kate explained to him.  
"Oh that's okay." Elliot said packing up his stuff and moving to another table.  
"Elliot you can still sit here." Kate said to him.  
But Elliot just walked off to the other side of the class room.

"Damn bro, you were going at it today. Something on your mind?" Javi said to Elliot in the locker rooms as he watched Elliot drink a whole bottle of water without taking a breath.  
"I asked out this girl, and she turned me down." Elliot said after swallowing his water.  
"That sucks bro who was it?"  
"Her name is Kate?"  
"Brunette hair, Olive skin, Hazel eyes?" Epso asked him.  
"Yeah did she turn you down too?"  
"Nah, she's my friend. Did she say why?"  
"She said she had something going on with someone else already." Elliot said picking up his gym bag and put it on his shoulder.  
"Really? Do you want me to ask her who he is?"  
"Sure." Elliot shrugged his shoulder.  
"I'll call her tonight."

Kate was reading her new magazine on her bed when she herd the phone ring in the kitchen.  
"Katie." She heard her dad call out a couple of minutes later. Kate got off her bed and walked into the kitchen.  
"Not too long, okay sweetie." Her dad said handing her the phone.  
"Okay dad." She said as her dad headed back to his office.  
"Hello." Kate said putting the phone to her ear.  
"Hey." Epso said over the phone.  
"What's up?" Kate asked.  
"Do you have a boyfriend, Kate?" He asked.  
"Why? Would you be jealous?" Kate joked.  
"No It's just Elliot said you turned him down?"  
"You wouldn't know them?" Kate rushed out the first excuse she knew.  
"Stop with the excuses, just tell me?"  
"I have to go, dinner time." Kate said hanging up the phone quickly.

"Did you ask?" Elliot asked the next day as they lined up to get lunch.  
"Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me."  
"Who else would know?" Elliot asked.  
"Why does it matter that much too you?" Espo asked.  
"I don't know I guess I just really like her, and I hated been turned down."  
"There's plenty of other girls bro." Espo said patting his back.  
"Your right."

***************************************************


	5. Chapter 5

**BIG THANKS TO FRANK.  
**

During the next few days, Kate and Rick were spending lots of time together. They hadn't gone all the way, yet. But there was a lot of kissing, and a bit of touching and holding. Kate really was feeling happy to have found someone who liked her as much as she liked him. They were even talking about how to go out on a date somewhere that no one would know them, but hadn't come up with a good place yet that both wanted to go.

Later, Elliot was tying to find Kate to talk to her. He had been talking with a number of Kate's friends. One of them, Maddie, said she had heard that Kate was going to the gym in order to do some yoga practice, so he headed over there to find her.

When he got there, he had just seen her picking up her yoga mat and rolling it up. As he watched, she looked around a few times, suspiciously, and then headed over to the back of the rolled out bleacher seats. Curious, he quietly headed over to the other end of the bleachers and snuck a look down to where he saw her in an embrace with someone. At first, he couldn't tell who it was, because the boy had his back to Elliot. But then, he recognized the shirt from someone he'd seen earlier that day. When they broke apart, his suspicions were confirmed. It was Rick Rogers.  
The revelation at first shocked him, and then made him angry. He had been speaking with people earlier, and had asked if anyone knew who Kate was seeing. Even Rogers had said that he didn't know!  
Ooo, this calls for something revenge!, he said to himself. And with that, he left the gym to plan for a way to get Kate to break up with Rogers. But what would prevent any chance of them getting back together? And then he had an idea that he'd need help from his friend Meredith.

The next day, Kate was back at school. Some of the other jock boys were talking together in a group and when they saw her, one or two of them pointed at her and then they laughed.  
She walked up to them. "Is something funny?", she asked.  
One of the boys, Tom, asked her "So, has Ricky won the dare yet? I've got 20 bucks on him that says he will!"  
This caused some confusion for her.. "What are you talking about?"  
"Oh, well, I guess not yet, anyways." He then nodded his head towards the gym, and his friends followed him, snickering as they left.

In the gym, after girl's volleyball, a few of the girls were talking about guys they were seeing. Some of them talked about dates they had gone on, but some of the girls talked about boys they had been out parking in cars with. Some of the stories were titillating, and those girls were either unhappy or thrilled with their experiences.  
One of them was talking about a boy that had gone all the way with her, who she was not very pleased with. Naturally, some of the girls wanted to know who he was, so they could avoid him. The girl telling the story was at first, a bit hesitant to say, but after a bit of urging from the others, she said his name was Rick.  
At this point, Kate, who had been standing nearby and listening said, "Which Rick are you talking about? Rick Nelson? Rick Schultz? Or Rick Rogers?"  
To this, she looked around the group of girls, and with her eyes down, and her voice low and hurt, she said, "Rogers." And after a slight pause during which Kate had a hitch in her breath, the girl continued. "And from what I hear, he was dared to do it. Sadly, he was as awful as he was eager. And when we were done, I saw him at school the next day, getting money from other boys, who congratulated him on his accomplishment!" With that, Meredith, who was telling this, let out a sound of disgust, and turned away from all the girls, letting her dismay secretly turn into a small, hidden smile on her face. That should do it, she thought.

Kate spent the rest of the day avoiding Rick. She took a different route back to her home, and stayed in her room all night, sad and morose. During the night, her dreams had her crying.  
When she got up in the morning, her mother asked her if she was all right. But by this point, she had decided to be strong and aloof about it. "I'm fine, mom. Just a bad dream, is all."  
Her mother, Johanna, got the feeling that there was more to it than that, but for now she'd let it go. "Well, I hope you have fun at school with Rick today. It's supposed to be a nice day."  
To this, Kate seemed to withdraw. "Well, I may be too busy with my classes, to do much socializing. We'll see."  
When she got up to go, her dad wished her a good day, and she was out the door.  
At school, she felt it would be better to distance herself from Rick, so she made sure to not sit near him in the few classes she had with him, and she avoided him at lunch.

Rick had a bit of a different day, however. He saw Kate early on when she came to school, but she walked right past him without even acknowledging that he was there. During the first class they shared, he sat down next to her. Without saying anything, Kate moved to another desk far away from him, where he couldn't sit next to her.  
"Why are you sitting all the way over there?", he asked her.  
To which, she did not turn to face him, but she said "You can put as much money on me as you want, but that doesn't mean you own me!" Then, she ignored him for the whole day.  
Afterwards, in his mathclass, he had a chance to sit down next to his friend, Javi. When he did that, Javi gave him a nasty look. Being a bit confused by the stink-eye, he greeted Javi "Hey, bro."  
"Move." Javi told him, firmly.  
Rick moved to the another desk a few feet away. He muttered, "What is going on with people today? I keep getting high fives, and 'you're the man' off my jock friends, and 'you're a pig' off of any girls.  
Javi looked over his way and said, "I think you knew what you did."  
Rick was getting very exasperated. "Please just tell me what's going on.", he begged.  
"I don't talk to no 'playa's'" and then Javi packed up his stuff, and moved to a desk in the front of the room.

Later on, during afternoon break, he finally found Kate in the library. As soon as she saw him, she said "Good job, Rick. Would you like a medal, or would you prefer the money from the jocks! And just so you know, you're not going to get it, cause I'm not going to be one of your victims."  
At this point, Rick couldn't even start to figure out what was going on here, so he asked her, "What are you talking about?"  
She shook her head back and forth. "Oh, give it up, Rick, this isn't the first time you bet that you could get a girl to sleep with you. I was really stupid to believe that you liked me!"  
"None of that is true… except for the whole liking you thing, cause I *DO* like you.", he pleaded with her.  
But Kate didn't believe him. "I bet you also said the same thing to the other 5 girls you bet on, didn't you.", she huffed.

**Before you go off on your Kate hate rants hold off till next chapter there's more to the story that will shock you.**


	6. Chapter 6

Rick was dragging his feet down the busy school halls when Tom Demming came around the comer and put his arm around his neck tightly.

"Now Ricky, there's nothing the boys and I like more then a bet but what we don't like is when you take forever to do the deed."

"What is this bet everyone is talking about?"

"Forgetting your own bet is not going to get you out of it, now grow a pair and do it." Tom said letting go of his neck and entering into a classroom.

/

Kate walked up to Meredith during a study break. She needed to get the story.

"Meredith could I talk to you about something?" Kate asked.

"I suppose so." Meredith rolled her eyes. "But first, could you move? You're in my sun. How am I supposed to get a tan if you're standing in the sun?" Meredith snapped.

"Sorry." Kate said sitting down at the lunch table. "Why are you sitting you'll be gone soon." Meredith asked, rolling her eyes once again and then focusing on her nail file.

Kate stood up and started to ask Meredith questions. "Is it true what you said about Rick the other day in gym?"

"Yes. He told me we would be together forever, and that we should be each other's first to show our love for each other. He took me out on the most romantic night and he had the room decorated. I thought we really had something, and then the next morning, I saw him giving money to some boys I can't believe him."

"Neither can I. I actually thought he liked me, too."

"I was talking about him degrading from me to you."

"Do the other girls go to our school?" Kate asked.

"What are you, a human 20 questions." Meredith asked.

"Just answer the question."

"No they didn't, His family went through this stage were they moved a lot each time he would bet that he could get a girl to get popular quickly before he moved."

"How do you know for sure?" Kate asked.

"You know the new kid, Elliot?" Meredith asked her.

"Yes."

"He went to one of the schools Rick attended."

/

Kate sat next to Elliot in math, even though he hadn't talked to her since she turned him down.

"Hey Elliot." Kate said putting her books and pencil case on the desk.

"Hey Kate." Elliot said flipping through his textbook.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Kate asked heisting.

"As long as it's not a math question." Elliot said laughing.

"You went to the same school as Rick at some time right?"

"Yeah, he's a douche bag." Elliot said shaking his head.

"Was it true that he had a bet on a girl?"

"Yeah, Anna did he try to do the same thing to you?"

"Yeah he did." Kate said ducking her head.

"I'm so close to punching him the face." Elliot said starting to get angry. "I'm also close to punching whoever invented math." Elliot said.

"Your doing it wrong, that's why." Kate said taking his book and starting to fix his math homework.

"Of course I am." Elliot grumbled.

/

Rick was walking to his locker when he noticed a piece of paper hanging out. He opened it and it said 'I've got your girl, and there's nothing you can do about it'

Rick ripped up the paper and put it in the bin out of anger. He decided to skip lunch and take his anger out on the punching bag."

Elliot walked into the gym to see Rick beating the heck out of the punching bag. He could tell Rick was angry about his note, so he grinned and walked towards him.

"Hey, something up?" Elliot asked.

"Yes I've lost her and I'll never get her back." Rick said out of breath.

"Lost who?"

"I had this crush on a girl I told her and she liked me back so we started to date and then someone started a rumor and now she hates me."

"Is the rumor the bet?" Elliot asked.

"Yes and I would never do that to a girl."

Elliot started laughing and shaking his head. "This isn't funny." Rick snapped.

"It's just the rumor is familiar to me, think hard, Rick. The school you went to last." Rick looked at Elliot's face he hadn't seen Elliot around much but he looked familiar.

"Jackson." Rick said.

"Thanks for giving me Kate, Ricky." Jackson grinned.

"Don't you dare." Rick growled.

"Who's going to believe you?"

"What did I do to you Jackson?" Rick asked.

"I liked Anna for so long we grew up together I was going to tell her till you came along and then she decided she liked you and she wanted you." Jackson said shaking with anger.

"I'm sorry, okay Jackson? But I'm begging you, please don't do this to Kate."

"An eye for a eye." Jackson said turning around to walk out of the gym when suddenly Rick tackled him and started to punch him in the nose.

"Boys." A teacher said when he walked into the gym to see Rick and Jackson's punch up.

"Sir, he came out of nowhere and started punching me." Jackson groaned covering his bloody nose.

"Elliot go the nurses, Rodgers to the principles office."

Kate was walking to the library over lunch break when she saw Elliot with a bloody tissue in the nurses office.

"Elliot, are you okay?" Kate asked walking into the nurses office.

"I was in the gym and Rodgers came out of nowhere, and attacked me."

"Here." Kate said giving him more tissues.

"Thank you."

Rick walked in and saw Kate with Elliot and he felt his heart sink. "You back for round two?" Elliot asked.

"The principle wants to see you. I told him who you really are." Rick growled.

"He's trying to turn the rumor on me." Elliot said to Kate who was confused.

"I'm not." Rick growled.

"I've got to go to the Principals office." Elliot said walking the door.

"I've got to go also." Kate said brushing past Rick.

**Told you there was more to the story.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you Frank.**

After a moments delay, Rick decided that he'd like to hear what Elliot said to the Principal. So he followed in the same direction, and when he came to the Principal's office, he told the secretary that he was waiting to speak with the Principal on a follow-up issue. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to hear Elliot and the Principal talking in the office because the door wasn't fully closed.

Principal Wilkers said, "So, Elliot, I'd like to hear from you about what caused that brawl that was broken up in the gym a hour ago."

Elliot confidently spoke up and said, "I was in the gym, and was starting to head out. At this point, Rick just swung on me, and it hurt!"

This led the Principal to ask, "And what was happening before he did this?"

Elliot looked down before answering, "I had asked him what was going on in his life and he didn't seem to want to answer, and when I turned to go, he attacked me."

The Principal thought for a few seconds and then looked Elliot in the eye while asking, "Rick tells a bit of a different story. He says that you were the one that made up a story about some kind of dare and that it has caused him problems. Further, that you and he were talking about it, and that you refused to resolve the problems that you had caused."

"No, Rick is lying and trying to get out of a problem that he, himself created. I told him that I didn't know what he was talking about, and because he was angry, I decided it was time for me to leave. And when I left, that's whey he jumped me."

The Principal looked a bit in doubt, but moved on. "Rick said that you're real name is Jackson, is this right? And you went to the previous school that Rick did?"

Elliot seemed a bit peeved that this information was being revealed. He replied, "Yes, Jackson is my first name, and I used it at the previous school. Here I use my Middle name because I liked it better. And yes, I went to Westminster Academy with Rick before here."

The Principal thought that maybe had was getting to the bottom of the story. He then asked, "And for what reason did you leave Westminster?"

Elliot seemed perplexed, like it wasn't a big deal. "My parents thought that Marlowe Prep was a better school and that's why they moved me here, for most of my 11th year and for next year, that's all."

At this, Kate asked, "And did you know someone at the school called Anna? I've heard that she knew Rick."

Now, Elliot smiled, as if he was successful, "Sure, I knew Anna. She was a nice girl. I dated her a few times, but then she broke up with me and went off with Rick. Of course, he didn't really treat her right. Why do you ask?"

Kate seemed uncertain about what that information meant. So she replied, "It's nothing, I had heard a rumor about Rick, and it involved Anna."

The Principal thought for a moment or two, and then he said, "Elliot, I have already told this to Rick, and I'm telling this to you. I want the two of you to keep away from each other. You will not talk to each other, unless by teacher's orders. If I hear of any other altercations between the two of you, both of you will be expelled for one month!"

Elliot nodded his head at the Principal and headed out the door, with Kate behind him. She seemed surprised to see Rick in the outer office, but she ignored him, and headed out to her next class.

/

After Rick's next class, he had a library session. He attempted to call Anna, and got thru with only some difficulty. "Hi, Anna! How's your day going? I hope I'm not interrupting you."

Anna seemed happy to hear from him and said, "I'm fine. I'm at home at the moment, and am out sick because of a bad sprain I got at my soccer class yesterday. But I'll be okay soon. What's up?"

"Anna, I have a big favor to ask you. I'm apologizing in advance for even having to ask, but I have a fewe question, and I need you to call someone."

From this, Anna's curiosity was piqued. "Sure, Rick. What do you need? You know I'll always help a friend."

"Okay. First, I know before we went out on those few dates, you said you had dated someone before me that you didn't feel comfortable around. Can you tell me who it was?"

"Well, Rick, I usually don't like to point fingers at others. I really did like being with you and I wish you hadn't left Westminster, but if it wasn't for you and your mom; I'd probably never have met my boyfriend, Peter. As for naming names, I'm a bit hesitant to blame anyone."

"Alright, Anna. I can understand that. But I need to at least verify something for my own insurance. I won't ask you for a name, but if I give you a name, can you at least say Yes or No as to if they were the previous person you dated?".

"Wellll, okay Rick. Who do you think it was?"

"Was it Jackson?"

There was a slight pause. "Yes, that's who."

"So, here's where I ask for the huge favor, Anna. I need you to call a close friend of mine this evening when she gets home from school. 6pm should do it. I'd very much appreciate it if you would please explain to her our relationship when we knew each other. She and the rest of the school have been told a lie and I'd really like for her and she was so close to become my girlfriend, at least, to know the truth. Can you do this for me?"

Anna sounded dismayed to hear this and asked, "Do I want to know why she believes something unflattering?"

Rick just said, "I'd rather not say, it was offensive. You can always ask the girl I need you to call, and if she tells you, then that's okay with me. I'm not going to say anything bad about you that you certainly do not deserve."

"Got it. Okay, I'll call her this evening. What's her name, and what's her number?"

"Her name is Kate Beckett, and you can reach her at (212) 555-5283"

/

The next day at school, while Rick was setting up for his first class when he looked up to see Kate standing at his desk with her folders clutched to her.

"Rick,I feel horrible I spoke with Anna yesterday evening and she told me what happened between you and also what didn't happen. I don't know how that dare and rumor got started, but I do not believe it anymore Rick I love you and I don't expect you to forgive me right away but I hope that this doesn't mean that I lose you."

Rick had a big grin of relief on his faces and pulled out a chair next to him. Kate took the seat. "Kate, thank you so much for talking with Anna. I tried to explain to her what had been happening, and she was as shocked as I was."

"I can't believe Elliot, He came off so nice but it turns out he just wanted to get in my pants to get back at you."

"He saw a girl that I liked and his mind went right to revenge and taking away the girl I liked."

/

During her maths class, Elliot was there, but she was giving him the cold shoulder. He didn't think she had found out about his plans yet, so he started up a conversation with her.

"Hey, Kate. Can you give me any help with my maths formulas today?"

Kate gave him the preliminary to what would later on be her "Death Glare". "You'll have to get by on your own today, I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore after what you did!", she whispered to him.

"What do you mean, Kate? What are you talking about?"

Kate gave him more of the glare and said, "Let's just say that I had a talk with Anna, and I know what you were trying to pull. Stop talking to me."

And she moved farther away from him for the rest of the class.

Now he thought, I've got to stop her from telling anyone else. What can I do?"

/

Later, during Kate's last class before lunch, she was preparing different foods for advanced chef classes. During the class, she found she was missing some important ingredients. "Mrs Cole can get some more food out of the storage room I'm missing some ingredients?" Kate asked.

"Come with me." Mrs Cole said.

Elliot waited till Mrs Cole left the room. He sneaked in and walked to Kate's bay. He opened the poison bottle and put it in the bowl in Kate's pre made pasta sauce. He heard Mrs Cole and Kate come back he put the bottle back in his back in a hurry and dashed out.

/

Partway into the next class, the fire-alarm went off and all the kids chaotically made their way out of the school. They all found their home-room teachers and verified their presence with the teacher. After about 5 minutes, everyone in Rick's homeroom had shown up, except for Kate!

"Kate Beckett, Katherine has anyone seen Katherine?" The teacher kept calling out and Rick's heart drops.


	8. Chapter 8

**What a day I woke up to my Tumblr newsfeed being flooded with Stana getting married, Then my sister had to put down her dog and then later on at school my crush asked me out. **

When Rick was looking around at all the students in his home room and didn't see Kate anywhere, he started looking around elsewhere for her.

Where could she be? he thought. He tried to remember her telling him where she'd have to go for her classes before lunch.

Let's see. First was Math, then Cooking... No, next was Russian Language. Just before Lunch was cooking. He needed to see if she was in the cooking class. Rick snuck away from his teacher, and headed to a side door into the school. The fire department hadn't arrived yet, but it was only a matter of time. When he got inside, there was smoke up near the ceiling, and it was a little hard to breathe. So he quickly stayed low and headed for the Cooking classroom. When he got there, he didn't see anyone, but he DID see Kate's book bag at the bench where she was cooking. If her bag is here, where's Kate?

Rick had a bad, gut feeling. His hunch was that Elliot was behind this. If he was, where did he take her? If he had started the fire, did he intend to kill her? If so, he'd probably do it somewhere without a source of clean air. The maintenance basement? There were almost no windows down there. It would also be a great place to start a fire. He ran for the access door.

Rick had a bit more smoke and coughing down here. The place was pretty big. He had to look didn't see her anywhere on the floor down here, so he looked for any closet or utility doors. He had checked 7 of them so far. He'd found many cleaners and other bad smelling vapors. Plus, there was even more smoke. He didn't see any direct flames, but it was getting warmer down here. He had two more doors to check. The first door he went to seemed to have a flickering light beneath it. He gently touched the door and it felt VERY warm. He'd check here last. He then went to the last door. It was locked! He looked around and saw one of those fire axes in a case and broke it out. He beat on the locked doorknob a few times until the door swung open.

There was Kate! She seemed unconscious and he wasn't even sure she was even breathing. Still, he picked her up and with all the care and speed he had, he headed out of the basement.

Just as he got out of the basement, he was met by about 6 firemen. Rick said, "She unconscious! We need to get her an ambulance! Please! Hurry!"

One of the men took her and Rick outside, while the other 5 went downstairs. Once they got outside, Rick had a chance to look over Kate and it seemed that she was, indeed, breathing. But he didn't know what else to do for her. The firefighter told him that they had already called for an ambulance and that it would get there in another minute or two.

"Your going to have to come with us to the hospital." One of the paramedics said to Rick as he watched Kate's ambulance drive off into the busy New York sheets.

"Okay." Rick nodded.

Later that day, Rick went to visit Kate in the hospital. Despite his worries, her mom allowed him in to her room. Fortunately, she seemed to be awake, active, and talking to her mom.

When he came in, he began with, "Hello, Kate."

"You saved me." Kate said.

"Yes, I did." Rick smiled at her.

"Thank you,so much, You saved my life."

"I would do anything for the people I care about.

Johanna entered the room to check on Kate. "How you doing Katie?" Johanna asked walking towards her bed and kissing her forehead. "And Rick, Thank you so much." Johanna said nearly in tears hugging Rick. "Me and Jim couldn't lose her."

/

The next day at school, Rick showed up just before lunch, as ordered with his mother, Martha. Happily for Rick, Kate and Johanna were there, too.

They were all ushered into Principal Wilkers office where many questions were asked, and answers were given. Especially answers about how the fire REALLY started. As soon as Kate was able to confirm what happened, the Principal asked his secretary to arrange for Elliot to be brought to his office, right after she got the police there first.

/

When Ellioit arrived in the Principals office, he was surprised to be called in the first place. He was shocked when he saw Rick, Kate, and both of their mothers with them. And then he was afraid, because he saw the two police detectives standing at the back of the office.

The Principal started things off. "Elliot, we have a very serious situation here that you will need to answer for. I have corroborated proof that you dosed one of our students, and set a fire in the school with the intention of killing that student. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Elliot didn't say anything at first. Then, "It was Rick's fault. He didn't like Kate because she wouldn't sleep with him, so he probably decided to kill her. It's all his fault!"

At this point, a Detective Montgomery stepped forward. "No, Elliot. Fingerprints don't lie. We found the knock-out drug in the school bins. It had your fingerprints on it. Then, we found your fingerprints on the bindings you tied Kate up with. There is no doubt that YOU did this, not Rick. You're going to have to come back to the station with Detective Hathaway and me to answer many questions about your actions yesterday. We're already in touch with your parents and they'll be meeting us down there." As he was saying this last, he had Detective Hathaway put handcuffs on Elliot.

With that, the two Detectives led Elliot away. Elliot looked angry, and then scared, and then resigned.

The Principal turned to Martha and said, "Mrs Rogers, you have a very good son. At this risk of hs own life, he went in and saved this young student's life. He truly is worthy of being here at Marlowe Preperatory Academy."

Martha finally spoke up. She looked at Rick and said, "Kiddo, you really did me proud today. I was always proud of you, and today you proved it to everybody else!"

And to confirm that, Kate stepped over and gave him a heartwarming, but chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Rick. I'm so happy to have you as my friend maybe your girlfriend again."

To which Rick just said, "Always."


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks To Frank. Please let me know what you think.

A few weeks later, Kate was in a hurry to get all of her things together for her visit. She had to get the right close, the right look, and she had to get it done now.

"Bye, mom." Kate said, rushing down the stairs and was about to open her door when she was cut off. "Hang on just a minute, "Katherine Beckett." Johanna said with her hands on her hips and a firm voice.

"I'll be fine mom, I swear." Kate groaned.

"Okay but I want you to call me when you get there and when your leaving and also if your going anywhere different."

"Me and Rick are just going to watch some movies."

"So what's going on between you and Rick?"

"I've got to go." Kate groaned.

"Just answer the question, Katie."

"Friends okay but were working to get to what we were before Elliot came."

"Okay but I'm driving you there." Johanna said getting her keys out of the key bowl.

"Okay."

/

Kate knocked on Rick's door. His brother opened the door and laughed. "Ricky your girlfriend is here." He called out and then walked away from the door. "Katie, come in." Rick called out as he was coming down the stairs.

Meanwhile in the kitchen his brother was making kissing noises. "Knock It off." Rick shouted at his brother.

"Hey." He then said to Kate. "Hey." Kate smiled back at him.

"Let's go to the upstairs lounge room that's if you can go up the stairs?" Rick asked worried. And with that, they headed up to watch a few movies.

"I'll deal." Kate shrugged.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

"Rick I've had my parents smothering me for the last couple of weeks, I'll be fine."

"So how are you feeling?" Rick asked going up the stairs.

"My Asthma came back."

"You had Asthma?" Rick asked.

"Yeah really bad when I was seven."

"Well, you seem to be doing better now.", he mentioned.

"Yeah, well I have a lot less stress now.

"In that case, I'll do everything in my power to reduce, and possibly elimate any stress for you", Rick lovingly told her.

At that moment, they heard exaggerated kissing noises from just outside the room.

"You know, Joe, you really seem to be getting younger as the day goes on. Pretty soon, you'll be younger than me!", Rick called out, and Kate gave him an annoyed look.

As they heard Joe's footsteps moving away from the room, they heard Joe making more kissing noises, as well as an "Oh, Rickey!" in a falsetto voice.

"Jerk!", Rick called out to him.. "I wish this room had a door.", he mumbled.

"So Rick, do you think it's really okay that I stay for dinner with you like you said? I don't want to be any imposition.."

"Don't worry, Kate. My mom insisted. She's not the greatest cook, but she's really good with lasagna. She uses 3 cheeses. You'll love it!"

"Don't worry, Rick. I'm sure I will. So, what movies do you have to watch today?"

/

Later, while watching the third movie, which was a rom-com, Kate and Rick had been snuggling closer and were kissing enough so that they were missing large chunks of the movie.

"You know, it's a good thing that I've seen this movie before, so that I know the parts I'm missing", Kate said.

"Well, I must admit that I've kind of lost most of my interest in the movie. This other stuff is actually kind of nice.", Rick smirked.

"I know, I love it when you kiss me, and when you hold me and touch me, it makes me feel all warm inside.

Rick brought her closer to him, and kissed her with fervor and passion. His hands were feeling her back and shoulders, and his thumbs were rubbing shapes into her that made her feel so very relaxed, and yet feeling more and more worked up the farther it went. Kate had her arms around his neck, and with one hand, she was feeling her hand through his hair, while at the same time, her other hand was touching the back of his neck, caressing the name of it and feeling where his hair at the nape of his neck ended.

They were getting more and more caught up in their feelings, that Rick almost didn't hear Joe's footsteps coming up the stairs, and then got much quieter as he approached the opening to the lounge.

As much as Rick didn't want to, he started to push Kate away from him, but she didn't want to go. She tried holding onto him tighter, before he was able to finally separate themselves with a strongly hissed, "Joe! It's Joe!".

Just at the moment, They heard more kissing from outside the lounge, and a second or two later, Joe stuck his head in, and said "Surprise, lovebirds!".

Fortunately, Rick and Kate were about a foot apart, but they she was looking at Rick with a flush on her face, and Rick was suspiciously looking back and forth between Kate and Joe.

"What do you want, Joe", Rick said slightly angry.

"Hey, mom says it's time for dinner, but I don't think we have a loveseat set up down there."

Joe started looking rather snarkily at Kate and Rick, and Kate started feeling embarrassed. She got up quickly.

"Um, I think I need to give my mom a call. She made me promise to call her when it was time to go home, and I think I need to go home now."

"Ok Kate. If you think so. I wish you'd stay. My mom's lasagna is really good.", Rick pleaded.

"N- No, I really think I should be heading for home. Now. I'll just look forward to seeing you some time later."

"Um, okay Kate. Here… Let me help you get your stuff together, and I'll go with you to make a call to your mom."

"Um, thanks Rick. I had a really great time. Your company was nice, aside from the interruptions.", she said as she snuck a glance at Joe, who was walking out of the room.

She took a chance for a quick kiss before she grabbed her bag and headed out, with Rick right behind her.

When they got downstairs, Kate asked Martha if she could use the phone, and Martha said, "Kate? Aren't you going to stay for dinner? I made extra for you?"

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Rogers. But it's getting late and my mom wanted me back home by now.", she lied. With this, she called her mom and asked her to come pick her up. When she hung up the phone, she turned to Martha.

"Alright, Kate. Well, you are always welcome here. You always are the main topic of conversation by Rick. And you do make him such a better boy. Thank you for coming over, and please tell your mother, hello."

"Thanks again, Mrs. Rogers. I'm sure I'll see you again, sometime."

Kate grabbed her bag and started heading for the door. Rick took off right after her.

"I'll just walk you out and wait with you for your mom. Okay?"

"Oh, uh.. sure Rick. Thank you." They walked out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

"You don't have to wait." Kate said giving the phone back.

"Is It cause of Joe?"

"No it's not him, I just think mom wouldn't want me out too late."

"Want to do something tomorrow?" Rick asked.

"Can't going to visit my Aunt and Cousins tomorrow."

"For how long?"

"A week, I'll call you."

"Okay." Rick said kissing her cheek. "Have a safe trip." Rick said going back inside.

/

"Where's your girlfriend, Ricky." Joe teased him as Rick sat down at the dinner table.

"Shut up, Joe." Rick snapped and then grabbed the newspaper, rolled it up and hit him on the back of the head.

"OUCH, You idiot." Joe slapped him.

"Boys." Martha snapped walking in from the kitchen.

"He hit me." Joe said rubbing the back of his head.

"It's not like you've got any brain cells left to damage." Rick snapped again at Joe.

"Darling, did something happen with Katherine?" Martha said sitting down.

"Yes darling, did something happen?" Joe said in a baby voice and pinching his cheek.

Rick pushed Joe off his chair. "Mom.", Joe wailed.

"Richard." Martha said, shocked.

"He's been a jerk all day; He's always been a jerk."

"He's just upset 'cause I walked in on him and his girlfriend making out."

Ricks heart started racing and his eyes widened. "We kissed once and cuddled." Rick lied.

"That's all you two better have been doing.", Martha admonished.

"I wouldn't take advantage of her."

"I know you won't."

"Mom can I go to my room, I've got a headache.", Joe wailed, again.

"Oh, poor baby." Rick said in a baby tone.

"I need a drink." Martha said standing up.

/

"Time for bed, bug." Jim kissed the top of his daughters head. "Long trip tomorrow." Jim said again.

"Okay." Kate said standing up. "Do you think Aunt Theresa will let me use her phone at her house?" Kate asked again.

"I don't know bug, you will have to ask her but remember this trip is for family."

"I know, One hour a night."

"You'll have to bargain with your Aunt."

"I wouldn't have this problem If you just brought me a mobile phone."

"Katie, your mom and I are still talking about It."

"I told you months ago."

"You think I'm made out of money,. young lady."

"No."

"Okay. Get to bed Katie-bug."

/

A night later Kate was in her Cousin Sofia room . She felt the bed dip when Sofia sat down. "Got the phone."

"Did you ask your mom?" Kate asked.

"I told her you were ringing a friend if she would have find out it was a boy you wouldn't hear the end of it."

"Thanks, Sofia."

"I'm going to shower while you're on the phone."

"Okay." Kate said starting to dial the number.

/

"Hello." She heard Rick's voice over the phone, which made butterfly,'s in her stomach, and her heart beat fast.

"Rick hey it's me."

"Hey, Katie!"

"Sorry it took me so long to call."

"Yeah, I was starting to get worried."

"I know, sorry."

"So, how is your Aunt?" Rick asked.

"Nosy." Kate answered rolling her eyes.

"Did you tell her about me?"

"Trust me Rick telling her I have boyfriend is the worst idea."

"So the day after you come back, Can I come over?"

"My parents are out all day, they will kill me."

"We can't go to mine cause Joe's a jerk."

"He has to leave the house sometime." Kate said to him.

"Nope he just sits there playing video games."

"Okay, but you have to leave an hour before my parents get home."

"I will."

"And don't you leave anymore hickeys."

"Did I leave a hickey?" Rick asked.

"Yes but luckily my hair covers it."

"So you're telling me you didn't like it when I kissed you neck?" Rick asked.

"I just don't want to go to fast." Kate said.

"Kate I would never make you uncomfortable, I would ask you and we would talk about it."

"I know you wouldn't, but I have to call Lanie 'cause I said I would call her too."

"Okay I'll see you soon, I guess."

"Rick I..." She tried to say the word 'love'.

"Me too." He answered knowing she was going to say 'love you'.

/

"Hello." Lanie answered.

"Oh my god, girl what took your call so long?"

"Sorry."

"So what happened yesterday?" Lanie said getting straight into it. "Did you kiss?" She asked again.

"We more then kissed." Kate said with a grin on her face.

"Katherine Beckett!" Lanie said, shocked.

"No, not that we just made out and he left a hickey but."

"Where? Have your parents seen it yet?"

"No, luckily my hair covers it."

"What did it feel like?" Lanie asked wanting the jucy details.

"It tickled at first but then it felt so good."

"Oh my god." Lanie gasped over the phone. "But Kate please don't become of those girls who is 24/7 with their boyfriend I still need to see my best friend."

"I won't. I'll spend all next week with him then the week after you and then I have to do the homework the school left."

"Just do it the night before like everyone else."

"Fine but if my parents find out, I will kill you."

"You're such a parent pleaser." Lanie said rolling her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Lanie."

"I've got to go." Kate said.

"Yeah me too, I got four numbers today but which will be the lucky one."

"Okay I'll leave you to your boyfriend hunting."

"Okay girl, bye."

/

After Sofia got back from her shower, Kate was watching a movie with Sofia she noticed Sofia was moving around a lot. "Something on you mind?" Kate asked.

"I heard your school got kinda burnt."

"It wasn't too bad, Sofia. They were able to contain most of it. They did have to fix a lot of stuff in the basement maintenance room. But most of the rest of the school had to just be cleaned, because of all the smoky smell."

"Weren't you afraid when it happened?"

"Yeah, I was in the basement when it happened, and if it wasn't for Rick, I'd be dead!"

"Wow, he sure was your knight in shining armor, wasn't he?"

"Yep, and he even saved me after all the junk I put him thru. That darned Elliot! What a colossal, stupid idiot he was. He was going to hurt me and possibly kill me, because some other girl at his last school broke up with him so that she could date Rick for a bit.

"Holy cow! And what happened to that other girl?"

"Well, she's got a new boyfriend."

"I sure am glad he's with you, then, I want one." Sofia groaned.

"Give it time Sofia. Anyway What do we have planned for tomorrow?"

"Shopping." Sofia squealed.

"Sofia we do shopping, Every time I come here, can't we go to the water park?"

"Fine but I'll have to buy a new swimmers." Sofia said and Kate rolled her eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

Let me know what you think.

"Can't we just go on one slide?" Kate groaned.

"I'm actually pretty hungry; Get me a mixed berry smoothie, and a fruit salad. There's money left over for you." Sofia said getting money out of her bag.

Kate rolled her eyes and took the money. "And hurry, I'm starting to dehydrate." Sofia called out after her.

Kate walked up to the canteen hoping they wouldn't think she was a pig.

"What can I get for you?" A teenage girl asked.

"Mixed berry smoothie, a fruit salad, and a thick chocolate shake, and a cheeseburger with onions and mushrooms, plus a large order of fries."

"Sure thing, your order will be done soon."

"Thank you." Kate smiled.

"Where have you been?" Sofia groaned.

"Sorry, I brought a lot of things."

"Yuck." Sofia said when she saw Kate's food.

"Well I didn't say you had to drink it." Kate said taking a sip of her milkshake.

"Do you realize how much that clogs your insides?" Sofia asked. "You're not going to keep your boyfriend if you eat junk food."

Kate paused and thought for a moment. Then, with a grimace on her face, she threw the burger and fries away, poured out the delicious chocolaty goodness of the shake into the sink. Finally, she took the lid off her empty milkshake cup, threw the lid at Sofia, and than took some coins with her and walked off.

"Where are you going? Mom will flip if I lose you." Sofia called after her.

Kate found a phone booth and called her Aunt's house with high hopes that her parents would answer.

"Hello." Her Aunt Theresa answered the phone.

"Hey could I talk to my mom or dad?"

"Something up?" She asked.

"No just wanted to ask mom or dad a question."

After a while for a little. Johanna came to the phone. "You're ready to bail too, kiddo?"

"Yes. When can we leave?"

"Not till tomorrow."

Kate groaned. "Just one more night kiddo.", her mom consoled her.

"Okay, mom." Kate said hanging up the phone.

"I'm coming home tomorrow!" She tells Rick over the phone, looking at herself.

"So soon? Is everything okay?"

"Would you dump me if I gained weight?"

"Kate, you know the answer."

"So you wouldn't?"

"You're perfect to me."

"Your right, I new I shouldn't have listened to Sofia."

"Your cousin sounds mean." Rick said.

"She's a spoiled brat; if I get home early I could come over and see you. I miss you."

"Would your parents let you?"

"Most likely."

"Okay and I have missed you too."

"Is your mom going to be home?" Kate asked.

"She needs to meet people at her new company, so she will be over at the company's house doing things I don't want to picture."

"I could sleep over maybe?" Kate said again.

"Don't you think that's pushing our parents a bit to far?" Rick asked.

"My mom trusts you and me."

"What about Joe?"

"Rick we can't base our relationship on Joe. He needs to grow up."

"Why don't you just come over, and then I'll see you the next morning."

"Okay I just wanted to cuddle, but okay." Kate started pouting over the phone.

"Please tell me you're not doing that pouting thing?" Rick asked.

"I'm..."

"But the pout is MY weakness." Rick fake-whined to her.

"I know."

"Okay you can come over, and I'll be your pillow." Rick said, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you"

"I've got to go but I'll see you tomorrow night." Rick said.

"Okay bye, see you tomorrow."

"Why is this traffic so slow?" Kate groaned.

"Sweetie, what's the rush?" Johanna asked.

"Not this traffic." Kate said, rolling her eyes.

"You're unpacking and going right to bed when you get home." Jim firmly told her.

Kate groaned and slummed against the car seat. "I'll just do my unpacking in the morning." Kate said starting to bargain.

"Did you make plans with your friends?" Johanna asked.

"No, I was going to see Rick and sleepover. I promise we won't do anything but sleep."

"Okay, I trust you sweetie, but I want you home at eleven, tomorrow morning."

"Eleven." Jim said angrily. "For goodness sakes Jo, she can wait till tomorrow to see him and she and a teenage boy are not sleeping over."

"Jim, Rick is a good boy, and I've given Kate the talk, and she understands."

"He's a teenage boy, Jo!"

"Well I trust them both." Johanna snapped.

"So can I go?", Kate interjected.

"Yes, sweetie." Johanna asked.

"Do you also want to stop and buy her condoms also?" Jim said sarcastically.

"You better watch your mouth, James Beckett, or I will make you pull over the car, get out, and then walk home." Johanna firmly told her husband.

"Yes dear, anything for you dear." Jim said again sarcastically.

Kate knocked on Rick's door as soon as Rick opened the door. Kate wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and kissed him.

Joe walked into entryway of the house. "Oi, love birds, you know oxygen is good for you."

Joe cut them off. Kate rested her head on his chest.

"Hang on, wait, has it been a week already?" He asked.

"How hard were you dropped on your head as a baby?" Rick asked Joe.

"It was just a question?"

"I came back early." Kate said to Joe.

"So Ricky what are you going to do?" Joe asked.

"What are you talking about Joe?"

"Moms not here and Kate's here, do you see the problem."

"So we both have a problem and we can fix those problems, you need to avoid trouble and I need money." Joe grinned.

"My wallets in the kitchen." Rick said giving in to Joe.

"Is Kate sleeping over?"

"Yes."

"That's a whole wallet bro." Joe had an even bigger grin.

"Fine take all the money you want out of my wallet."

"What are you going to do with the movies tomorrow?" Kate asked.

"Still got this." Rick pulled out a credit card.

"Very nice."

With Rick's reassurance for money, they left and went up to his room.

"Kate, it's only about 5 o'clock. What do you wanna do till we crash?"

"Well, I thought you could either sit with me while I tell you about my crazy cousin,or could even start cuddling a few hours early? Whaddaya think, Rick?"

"After much thought and consideration," he said with a big grin, "I think we should choose Door Number 2,and cuddle!"

Kate nodded her head and leaned into him, tilting her head slightly and kissed him with such a need, because of how long it had been since she could have time alone with him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks Frank. And leave your thoughts on the story In the review box and also more drama is coming soon.**

Kate listened to the sound of his heartbeat. His fingers were combing through her hair causing a tingle in her scalp.

"Do you want to play a game?" Kate asked.

"I thought we were cuddling but." Rick grizzled.

"We can still cuddle."

"Okay."

"The game is I draw a pattern on your chest with my fingers and you have to guess but you have to close your eyes."

"Okay." Rick said closing his eyes.

Kate started to draw the letter K. "Umm, Kat." Rick grinned.

Kate hit his chest with his fist. "Ow." He groaned.

Kate then pushed back the sheets and stood up. "Where do you think your going." Rick said grabbing her arm and pulling her down.

"I thought I better leave before Kat came." Kate playfully said.

"Yeah probably for the best, she does get pretty jealous."

"Come here, knuckle head." Kate said putting her arm around his neck and dragging him down for a kiss.

"I'll always be your knuckle head." Rick whispered resting his head against hers.

"Promise me." Kate whispered back her fingers tracing his jawline.

"Always." He whispered once again.

"Always?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, All couples say I love you but Always is our special way of saying I love you."

Kate smiled at him and pulled him back down for a passionate kiss.

The next morning Kate woke to the sound of the rain hitting the window. She opened her eyes and moved over to Rick's empty space of the bed to open the curtains from the window above his bed. It looked so dark almost like it was night time. Kate looked at the digtal clock on Rick's desk to see the time was 8:30.

Kate walked down the stairs but stopped half way to see. Rick working out in the lounge room. She sat down and her mouth watered. He put down his weights and looked over to see his girlfriend watching him.

"Enjoy the show?" He smirked walking towards the stairs.

Kate only nodded. She had lost her words. "I'm going to shower." Rick said.

When Rick got out of the shower, he saw Kate in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate. "Hey." Rick said dropping a kiss to her head and sat on the chair at the head of the table.

"So you didn't give me feedback on the show." Rick said.

"You need to do more push ups." Kate said taking a sip.

"Coach suggested push-ups; I started with 10 and 20."

"Good thing, I got you when I did." Kate said.

"You know what, the push-up's might help your muscles but it won't improve your looks." Joe said walking into the kitchen.

"I would like to see you pick a weight up or do a push up."

"No can do, little bro the only working out I do is with my fingers on the game controller. You love birds are welcome to join me."

"Tempting, but we have our own plans." Rick said sarcastically..

"Whatever." Joe shrugged, and walked out of the kitchen.

"I should head home." Kate said putting her cup in the sink.

"So soon." Rick pouted.

"I have to get changed were going to the movies soon."

"But I like you. In that top."

"Come on drive me home."

"Your dad scares me, but..."

"I'll protect you, big baby." Kate teased.

"Hey mom." Kate said walking into the kitchen.

"Hey sweetie you're back early."

"Rick and I are going to the movies with our friends, So I came back to get changed."

"Where's Rick?" Johanna aksed.

"Waiting in the car."

"Okay sweetie." Johanna smiled.

"Yeah, we're not sure what movie to see. Rick wants to see Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Mortal Kombat, or Batman: Forever, but I'd like to see either Tank Girl, The Usual Suspects, or The Bridges of Madison County. What do you think, mom?"

"Well, Katie, I like Madison County, but Tank Girl sounds good for you. She's a strong girl, just like you. Of course, you could always see Casper?"

"Okay. Well I'll take your recommendations and we'll decide. We'll probably see two movies. One for each of us. But I have to go up and dress. Be right back!"

Moments later, Kate came down in a new dress, it had a short-sleeve blouse with a longer skirt. "You look great, Katie!"

Thanks, mom! Wish us luck!", and Katie ran out the door.

When she got to the car, Rick was waiting for her, listening to a pop station on the radio. When he saw Kate, he said "Wow! You look beautiful! I kind of feel underdressed, with my jeans and plain jacket."

"Don't worry, Rick. It'll be dark in the theater so nobody will notice. Besides, you look just fine, to me.", and they drove off.

When they waited in line at the theater, it was a nice sunny day outside. "This feels like it's going to be a really good day." Kate told him.

"Yep, so what do you want to see? Comedy, action, romance, drama? It's all good for me."

"I want to see the movie you want first, Rick. Then we can cuddle while we watch mine. Is that okay?"

"That's not only okay, it's great! How about we see Batman, I've heard it's a good one. It's got Jim Carrey playing the Riddler. He should be hilarious! What's your choice?"

"Well… I'm not sure if I want to see Tank Girl, or The Usual Suspects."

"For now, don't worry about it. You have the time of a whole movie to decide. Let's go in." Rick paid for the tickets for them, and they headed inside. They got drinks and popcorn, but Rick wanted Carmel Popcorn, so it took a few minutes.

Rick's movie was okay. They both agreed that Val Kilmer was a better Bruce Wayne than Batman, but it was fun. They came outside and got tickets for The Usual Suspects, because that's what Kate chose. Even when they were watching Batman, Kate had noticed it was a tiny bit chilly in the theater, but it wasn't a problem. But in her movie, the theater was a bit more chilly. So, on top of the thriller movie, Kate had even more reason to convince Rick to lend her his jacket, plus they were able to cuddle close to each other. It made a great movie even better!

After they left the theater, It was only 4 o'clock, so he suggested they go and get an early dinner. They found a great Chinese place that had killer egg-rolls and really good Sesame Chicken dishes. They ate, and drank some iced coffee towards the end of the meal. All throughout the meal, they just talked about everything. The movies, the school work, their friends, and best of all, their friendship. Secretly, they were both hoping it could be more, maybe soon.

Kate was listening to Rick talk about the less than wonderful Batman movie, and interrupted him to ask, "Do you think our relationship as boyfriend-girlfriend is moving at the right speed?"

Rick thought for a moment, and replied. "I really like being with you. I really enjoy the time we spend together. I'm hoping to keep spending more time with each other." At this, Rick pauses. He looks down at his food, and then slowly looks up until he meets Kate's eyes. "I'm actually hoping that maybe, after high school, um… maybe we could even look towards college, and maybe… maybe we could even… move in together rather than live in a dorm? … Um, if you think that I'm not jumping the gun, here.", he said, as he stumbled over his words, showing his nervousness.

Kate paused for a long moment. Part of her was scared. This was a big commitment. True, it wasn't marriage, but living together? Are they ready for that? Every day she looked forward to being with Rick. Whether it was at home or at school. Especially on weekends. The idea of living in the same house felt scary and thirilling … and satisfying.

Kate know focused on Rick. "I'm not sure if this is too fast. Maybe. But maybe, it's the way things are supposed to be. I think I'd like to do that. But do we even know what colleges we're going to go to? I'm still thinking of Stanford. Possibly even Pre-Law, so that possibly I could follow in my moms footsteps. Would you want to go there?"

"You know, there were a few colleges That I've been thinking about, but one of the best Creative Writing degrees is from Stanford, too. That could work out pretty well for me! I'll need to start getting things ready in order to apply!"

"Rick, I think we have a possible plan. I know it's a bit in the future, but I like where things could lead. I know I'll have to talk to my parents about things. But I also know that you have to talk to your mom. I hope that we might be able to work towards this, but obviously a lot to do."

Rick agreed. "Yeah, I really need to talk to my mom, first." I guess we'll have to see about trying to arrage things."

With that, they paid for their dinner, and Rick drove Kate home and dropped her off, before heading home himself.


	13. Chapter 13

**I know this isn't going to up to some of your standards, but I downloaded Grammarly cause Frank my beta hasn't responded to me in a week and I don't want to leave my readers hanging.**

Rick or pre-law?

A boy I was madly in love with or my future?

A future filled including Rick, maybe even a marriage and kids or a future filled with loneliness and cases.

New York vs California?

A dream that I've had since I was eight or a dream that has come into my life recently?

Kate tried to not let the words from Ricks questions get to her. But she couldn't seem to find anything to get it off her mind.

She rolled over and closed her eyes when she heard her bedroom door open. She felt the bed dip and someone tucking her curls behind her ear.

"You're the worst fake sleeper in the world," Johanna told her.

"I know," Kate said opening her eyes and rolling over to face her mom.

"What's going on in your mind, Katie?"

"I don't know mom, it's like an out of control zoo."

"Maybe telling me will calm down the zoo."

"Remember careers day when I was eight," Kate asked.

"Yes after that day you've been stubborn about being a lawyer like me," Johanna answered.

"What if something else comes along, but you can't let that thing go cause if you do you might regret it one day and you may never find them again?"

"Does this thing have a name?" Johanna asked.

"After the movie, Rick and I went to get some Chinese. And while we were eating Rick starts asking and talking about the future."

"Katie maybe you should see how things go with Rick. If you love him you won't leave him behind at the risk of losing him but if you don't love him then you will choose the future you wanted since you were eight."

"Okay."

"Goodnight sweetie." Johanna kissed her daughters head.

"Night mom."

/

"And people think I'm the idiot of the family," Joe said to Rick.

"You are the idiot of the family."

"Oh well, got to be one of us." Joe shrugged.

"It just came out, I didn't think I would freak her out."

"How do you know she was freaking out?" Joe asked.

"She didn't say anything, but I could tell it in her eyes."

"Good job Ricky, you've managed to almost lost the girl to lost the girl to getting the girl back to freaking her out. You're on the ball aren't you." Joe put his hand on Ricks's shoulder.

"Joe I'm opening up to you here."

"I'm sorry I'm trying to help. What more do you want from me?"

Rick was cut off by the phone ringing.

"Hello."

"Hey Rick, it's me could we talk?" Kate asked.

"Sure, where can I meet you?"

"My place."

"See ya then."

/

When Rick got out of the car. Kate crashed right away into his arms and held him tight. "Are you okay?" Rick asked wrapping his arms around her.

"I've been thinking about what you said really hard." Kate said pulling out of his embrace.

"The whole future thing last night, about that Kate, forget about it I brought it up too so soon."

"Okay."

"Don't worry Kate, were going to be okay." Rick said cupping her cheeks and kissing her forehead.

"Do you want to come in?" Kate asked.

"Is your dad home?"

"No." Kate laughed.

/

When Rick walked back into his house hours later after cuddling with Kate and watching a movie.

"For god stakes, Polly that stop crying." He heard his mother's voice echo.

"Mom got a new role in a play." Joe said walking past him with a packed bag.

"Kate's father or this?" Rick said to himself.

"FOR GOD STAKES POLLY, STOP THAT CRYING." His mother shouted.

"Kate's house it is." He said heading upstairs to pack his bags.

/

"Rick." Johanna said with a smile opening the door.

"Hello Mrs. Beckett, I was wondering if I could stay here for the night?"

"Yes, but if you don't call me Johanna, your sleeping outside."

"Got it."

"Come in." Johanna moved so Rick could walk inside. "You hungry Rick, Kate and I are going to order some pizza."

"That would be good, thank you."

"What kind of pizza do you want?"

"I'll eat whatever." Rick shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay well, Katie is in the upstairs lounge room I think."

"Okay," Rick said going up the stairs.

/

"I'm back did you miss me?" Rick said walking into the lounge room.

"Hey, I thought you went home?" Kate asked.

"Mother got a new role in the play."

"What's the line this time?" Kate asked as Rick sat next to her.

"For god stakes Polly, stop that crying," Rick said putting his arm around her.

"Better then, I'll make it worth your while baby,

" Kate said laughing.

"Whenever Mr. Gale sees my mom or another mom he has to remind them he's a happily married man."

Kate and Rick both laughed for ages they laughed so much the felt like they were going to cry.

"Can I ask you a question?" Rick asked while the laughed died down.

"Yeah."

"I'm inviting Lanie, Espo, Ryan, Jenny and Tory up to the Hamptons soon, you In?"

"I would love to go to the Hamptons, When is it."

"Not for another month but I'm going to the Hamptons night before everyone."

"I could come with you the night before everyone comes."

"With no parents, our parents would kill us."

"We just don't tell them."

"Kate do you want alone time to do what I'm thinking?" Rick asked.

"I know it's only been nearly 2 months, but it just feels right."

"Kate are you sure?"

"I want this more than anything, I love you, Rick."

"I love you too Kate." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "Okay, If that's what you want I want it as well."


	14. Chapter 14

**Next chapter is going to be rated M. And thanks to Frank. Let me know what you think㈇7 ㈇7 ㈇7 ㈇7 **

That Friday afternoon, Kate and Rick drove up to his family's Hampton home. On the trip up there, they talked about a lot of inconsequential things. When they arrived, Kate just stared, open-mouthed, at his mom's summer home."Rick! This place is huge! When did you guys get it?""Mom has been doing a lot of acting in plays and they've been paying off pretty well. Sometimes, she comes up here to host soirees and little get-togethers, but mostly it's just a place for us to go when we want to get away from it all.""And it looks like you have the ocean open on the back of the house, right? Maybe we could go swimming, and I could show off my bikini?"

"That would be the high-light of my day, Kate! I'll need to show you your room so you can put your stuff away, and then we can get a bite to eat, before we take a dip in the ocean, what do you think?"  
"I think that sounds juuuuust raht!", she said with a southern drawl.  
They headed inside, and Kate was enchanted with all the different rooms there were on the first floor. Even a small acting studio. Upstairs, there were plenty of bedrooms for them and their guests that would be arriving tomorrow.  
"Kate, I wanted to have you stay in my room, with me, if you would be okay with it?"  
"I think you're reading my mind, Rick! Let's unpack, get changed, and get a bite to eat, okay?"

"Hmmm, are you sure you want to change into new clothes? We could always take these off, and keep them off for a while.", he replied with a suggestive voice.  
"No! We will save that for later, tonight.", she said petulantly. "For now, I want to get my beach outfit on, and get something to eat. That was a very long drive to get up here, and I'm hungry."  
"Got it, the bathroom is over there, if you need it. I'm going to get lunch ready first, then I'll change, and we'll meet at the kitchen counter for dinner, okay? We need to do it soon, because it'll get cooler, soon." He then headed out and left Kate to decide what she'd wear, and also, what bathing suit she should pick out.

After a nice lunch of homemade sub sandwiches (Kate really loved the pastrami and Swiss cheese), they went out to the ocean to splash around a bit. At the moment, they were wearing short pants and while Kate was wearing a t-shirt, Rick was topless, much to Kate's enjoyment. They had started first, by wading in the flowing ocean water rushing up onto the beach, but then, Rick had slipped down onto one knee, and in getting up, he splashed a little water on Kate, which made her shriek like a little girl.  
"Oh! Watch what you're doing, Rick. Or I'll have to get even with you!", she said playfully.

"Oh, come on, Katie, I'm sure that a 'little' water won't hurt.", he replied and when he did that, he used all his strength to soak Kate almost up to her neck.  
"Oooo! I'm gonna really enjoy getting back at you!", and she started slapping as much water up at him as fast as she could.

Although Rick wasn't bothered at all by it, he decided to tackle Kate into the water, and made sure that when he had grabbed her, he made sure they fell into shallow water with him on the bottom. Of course, in this case, shallow means 5 feet deep.  
Sputtering, Kate got to her feet, and shoved Rick against the minor waves coming up at them. "I think I'm in need of some warmth of the sun, so that I can devise a suitable punishment for you, mister!", and she made her way out, onto the beach and sat down on the warm sand. She seemed to have a grimace on her face.

At first, Rick was worried that he had gone too far, but upon taking a closer look, he realized that Kate was smiling slightly at him, thru her fake grimace. "Well, we can sit here and dry off, if you like. After a bit, we can walk the beach. There are a lot of great shells that wash up on the beach all the time. You never know what you'll find."  
For a moment, Kate seemed to ignore him, but with a surreptitious glance around them, she saw what looked like a nice seashell partially buried in the sand, near the waters edge. "You may be right about that, buster. In fact, I think I see a nice one right there." And she got up, walked over and dug out the shell. "Look at this! It seems like a perfect shell. See how it spirals in on itself?" The shell was about 4 inches in diameter, and about 8 inches tall. It had a beautiful mother-of-pearl skin to it, with a opening on the side curving into the center that was too deeply inside it.

"That's a North Atlantic Whelk shell. They're really great because you can hear the sea in them, and they look great on a desk or shelf.", Rick informed her.  
"Well, I think that it's nice because it's so big, that it could hold our love inside of it. I'm going to keep it and take it home with me, and then to college in Stanford. That way, I'll always have your love with me.", she said with a warm smile.  
"Would you like to go looking for any other shells, Kate? We have plenty of time…"  
"No, I like this one right here. Can we go up to the Jacuzzi? The ocean water is a little chilly."

"Sure! Let me get you your towel, first.", and he walked back up the beach about 20 feet and grabbed her towel which had been lying there, and he brought it to her.  
"Thanks, Rick.", she told him, with an even bigger smile. "Could you grab my sun screen as well?"  
Rick picked up his towel, her sun screen, and the cooler with water bottles in it, and they headed back to the house.

They settled themselves in the Jacuzzi near each other, so that Rick could hold Kate in his arms. "I've got to say, Kate. Seeing you in your bikini, you look great! So hot! But I also like holding you close to me like this." He paused. "I remember when I first saw you at school, on my first day here after I left Westminster. I thought you were so beautiful. Then, in class, you knew so much, and seemed to get along well with everybody. I thought I'd never have a chance with you."

"Oh, Rick. When I first talked to you, I wanted you to be my friend. I hoped that someday,. Maybe we could go out on dates. I'm so glad when you agreed to come to the sleepover at Lanies. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I'm pretty confident that she arranged for us to have only one bed to sleep on."  
"Well, for that, I'm glad, Kate. Waking up next to you, in the middle of the night, was the best wake up I've had in my entire life. If I could wake up to your face, for the rest of my life, would be my fondest wish."

Kate felt so many butterflies in her belly that she thought that maybe the Jacuzzi water jets were working overtime. But then she realized that they weren't even on. It was such a very warm, nice, thrilling feeling, she held Rick tighter to her.  
"I really would like it if we could go up to your room now, Rick. Could we do that?"  
Rick felt a little tense at what he thought, he hoped?, was coming. So he turned to Kate.  
"Sure, Kate. Lets grab our towels, I'll put the cover back on the Jacuzzi, and we can head up there, okay?"

Kate just smiled at him. She took her towel, wrapped it around herself, and with a last, loving look over her shoulder, she headed for the door, to go into the house and up to their room.


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's the M rated chapter. Thanks my beta. And let me know what you think? **

As Kate walked thru the door, into the house, Rick was fumbling with his towel, trying to balance it over his shoulder, and then struggling to get the Jacuzzi pool cover man-handled onto the pool and locking it down. Finally, after a few minutes, he'd properly (sort of) tied it down and was able to head inside and run upstairs. When he got up there, he didn't see her at first. But when he listened, he could hear the shower running. He moved over to the door for the en suite.

"Kate, is it okay if I come in?", he said thru the narrow gap where the door was ajar.  
"Well, I was in here showering off the sea salt, and the chlorine. I must admit that I was getting a little water-logged in here while I was waiting for you.", she teased.  
Rick opened the door further, and stepped inside. The room was a little bit foggy with the steam, but it didn't inhibit his vision at all. He moved to the shower tub door and slid it partly open, enough to stick his head in. Kate was standing there in the shower of water, turning gradually left and right as it would fall onto her back, then onto her front, totally naked. For a moment, he just stared at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Finally, after about a minute or two, Kate looked at him rather dreamily.  
"Um, well, are you coming in? The cooler air doesn't feel as nice as the hot water, you know."

With that, Rick carefully stepped in, and moved over to her.  
"Uh, Rick? Why are you still wearing your flip-flops and shorts?"  
"Oh! Sorry, just a second." He quickly kicked his flops out of the shower, and then took off his shorts and tossed them into the sink. Then he moved over to stand by her, just as clothes-free as she was. Kate reached up, and grazed her palm over his chest.  
"Oh, I do love your muscles." Then, she took both of his hands and drew them behind her. Once his hands were joined, she released them and put her own hands around his upper bac, and slowly drew her hand up and down his spine. At that point, Rick started doing the same, but going down farther, to cup one of her lower cheeks, giving it a slight squeeze. While he was doing that, he leaned his head down and matched his lips to hers as they joined them in a soft, slow kiss, that gradually became more and more passionate. Partway thru the process, he felt Kate's tongue darting thru her own lips, to press for entrance against his own. He immediately granted permission, matching his own tongue against hers.

All the while that this was happening, Rick and Kate were roaming their hands over each other, for as far as they could reach. At one point, Rick moved his hand down between them, and stroked Kate between her legs. When he did that, she moved her legs a bit farther apart, and said "Softer, more delicately.", and Rick did his best to please her.  
Upon changing his technique, she moaned into his mouth, several times as his hands and fingers caressed and fondled her. She moved her pelvis against his hand for more friction and moaned even more. By this point, she wasn't kissing him, instead, she was panting rapidly, and only occasionally, did she kiss him. Finally, after moving his fingers in and out and around and creating an exquisite friction, Kate's legs slammed together, and she stiffened in his grasp. Rick could feel her muscles spasming against his fingers. He looked into her eyes, they were firmly closed, and then she shouted out  
Oh, my God, Rick! Oh! Oh! Ooooh!" and she slumped slightly in his arms. After a moment, she opened her eyes, looked up at Rick and said, "Wow! You did that so wonderfully! I've done that a few times, myself, and it has NEVER been that good!"  
Rick was a little stunned. He wasn't totally sure what had happened, but he thought he knew. He smiled down at her a little apprehensively, and asked, "Well, what you've been doing to me has been very good as well!", and he looked her in the eyes, and then down between them, where she could see that she was hanging onto him and stroking, much like he had been in her.

"Maybe we should do a final rinse, and head to bed, Kate?"  
"Oh, sorry about that, I got kind of carried away!"  
"That's alright, Kate. You were making my day, too. Maybe, if you don't mind, I could make yours again. But I'm wondering, did you shampoo your hair? I'm sure you got salt in it from the ocean."

"Yeah, that would really be nice. You're going to shampoo it for me?"  
"You bet. Anything for my girl." And with that, he leaned over, and extended a shower chair that was built into the side of shower and had her sit down. He asked her to choose one of the shampoos that were stocked in the bathroom, and she picked one that smelled like cherries.

"This one, Rick. I always liked the smell of cherries."  
He took the showerhead, unfastened it from the holder, and rinsed her hair down. Then, he took the shampoo and squirted some into his hand, and lathered up her hair.  
"This really smells good, Kate. This is the smell that I've always gotten the aroma of during all the times in school. It always makes me think of you." After he was done lathering up her hair, he carefully used the showerhead to rinse the shampoo away, without getting any in her eyes.

"Rick, you take such good care of me. I wish you could always give me a shampoo for every shower I ever have in the future. Where were you for all my previous showers? You were never there. You naughty boy!", she said to him, smiling up with a mischievous glint in her eyes.  
"I promise, Kate. I'll always be happy to do that for you. Always." And with that, he gave them both a final rinse.  
They toweled off, and Rick dried off her hair. Then they went into the bedroom.

Because the window was open towards the ocean, they could faintly hear the waves coming up on the beach and then whooshing back to the ocean. It was a very calming sound, and Kate loved it.

Rick walked over to the bed and pulled the coverlet down. Kate then walked over, and crawled in, and Rick followed her in, right beside her. Lying next to Kate, he reached over and pulled her close to him. He gave her a deep, fervent kiss. Then, he pulled back from Kate. She was a bit startled because he had stopped kissing her. She looked up at him. He looked deeply into her eyes. And then he asked.

"Kate? You know I love you. Are you sure you want to do this with me? I can wait if you like. I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to cause any problems for you."  
"I do, Rick. I want to make love with you. You are the only one for me. My mom has even had me on the pill for the last year. I am ready, and I do want this. Do you?"  
"Yes, Kate." And he kissed her, hard, letting her feel his devotion to her, and he was feeling hers for him. He paused and said, "Kate, all I ask is that, if I'm hurting you, please tell me."

She reached for him to kiss him. Rick matched her devotion, and carefully rolled over on top of Kate. During the shampoo task from before, things for Rick had 'deflated' back to normal, but now, things were getting back to full size.  
Kate reached all over Rick. This was her first attempt at this and she wanted to enjoy every minute. Feeling Rick's strong, muscular body above her; feeling all the shifting muscles as he caressed and explored her. And inside herself, she could feel the warmth and heat rising and tingling all over her body.

Again, she reached down to grasp him. She stroked him firmly, and it felt so intimate and right. She pulled down on him a bit to help guide him into her. She was still feeling wet from their Round 1 in the shower, so she felt things should be okay here, too.  
"Rick, I want to feel you in me, please?". Rick looked down into her eyes, and seeing her honesty and vulnerability, he gently moved himself into position. For a moment, he paused, he didn't want to mess this up. He slowly began to push, he passed into her slightly, feeling the tightness and reveling in it.. Kate had inhaled, and was holding her breath.

She almost looked afraid.  
But after a few seconds, she met his gaze, and with a warm, loving smile, she said, "More, Rick. Please." Rick slid himself in a bit more. Even this little bit felt like ecstasy. He let her engulf him more. He could feel a stopping point.  
Kate was now pulling on his hips and buttocks to try to urge him on. He felt that this would be all right. He thrust further in, and with a brief cry of "Oh!", he paused one final time.

He looked concernedly at Kate. He was in a position now that he didn't want to end. But she was his guide. He would not hurt her.  
"Kate, are you alright?"  
She paused, and then smiled up at him, "Yes! Everything is wonderful! Please don't stop."  
With that, he started to retract himself and then gently thrust back in. Over the span of a few more thrust in and out, he had picked up speed and urgency. Kate was now feeling the tingling outside growing, but inside, that was becoming more and more intense, the more he moved. She had felt something like this back in the shower, but nothing this deep, this profound.

She didn't want this to ever end. If this feeling of him stroking her skin, caressing and fondling her breasts, of him move ever more deeply into her, of it all. And now, he was kissing and sucking on the side of her neck, Oh! It felt so good! Was this what it meant to love someone truly? She looked up at Rick. Like her, he was beginning to pant heavily. She could feel the peak coming. She hoped the could go through it together. That would be the best!  
She could now feel that she was almost there. She looked deep into Rick's dark, ocean blue eyes. She could fall forever into them. She was able to mutter out, "Rick, now. Now, Rick. Please!".

Rick sped up even faster. What was he, a machine? A machine of pleasure just for her? No! He was her true love, and she would be with him forever!  
"Kate! Now!", and with one final series of thrusts, Rick gave her every bit of himself. He could feel her lift her back off the bed, lifting him up, as well. She thrummed with pleasure, and cried out, "Riiiiick!" A few seconds later, he buried his face into her neck with a deep throaty growl and she could feel him exploding inside of her. As his body began to droop, he attempted to shift off to the side of her so that he didn't crush her, but she would have none of that. She gripped him tightly on top of her and held him like she would never let go.

"Oh, no, Rick Rodgers. I am NOT letting you go. You are mine, for always!", and she snuggled into his chest, keeping her face alongside his, so that she could feel his heart beating along with her own. Like it should be.  
They spoke sweet nothings into each others ears, promising that they would be together, no matter who or what came along. Finally, their exertions had taken their toll on the two of them. Rick pulled the coverlet up and over them. They held each other closely, Rick with his chest up against Kate's back, spooning her, with an arm around her waist. Kate feeling the tremendous comfort of true belonging. She could easily envision their future together, always together, always for each other. And as she fell asleep, she dreamt beautiful dreams of them, and a family and love.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you also this might be the last of the fluffy chapters for awhile. Cause we are going to have some drama to mix it up.**

Kate woke up, it was late morning. She noticed Rick wasn't cuddling up next to her anymore. She turned around to see him asleep on the other side of the bed. His hair was in all different directions but Kate thought it made him look even cuter.  
She moved closer to him and placed her head on his chest. "You got sick of cuddling with me." Kate said to him when she felt him stirring.  
"Never, it just got a little hot." Rick mumbled his eyes still closed.  
"You want to go for a swim? Or we could go to the beach?" Kate asked.  
"Now that I know what's under the swimmers, how I'm going to control myself around our friends? How are you feeling anyway?" Rick asked, being the sweet and concerned boyfriend he was.  
"It hurt for a little at first, but it felt good."  
"Good as in you would be willing to do it again?" Rick asked shyly even though they had gone two rounds he was still shy.  
"Why? Do you want to do it again?" Kate asked with a cheeky smile.  
"Well, we aren't going to have a lot of chances to do it again, what with our friends coming, and when we go back to the city when our parents are going to be there."  
Kate climbed on top of him and attached her lips to his. "Or we could do something else." Kate whispered in his ear.  
"Like what?" Rick asked.  
"A little something for what you did to me in the shower the other day." Kate whispered.  
"Are you talking about…" Rick said nervously.  
"Yes." Kate whispered in his ear. "You'll like it, trust me." Kate said kissing him.

"It's like a out of body experience at the end." Rick commented.  
"Yeah could maybe not pull on my hair the next time." Kate said.  
"It's kinda hard to keep control, Kate."you  
"I know, It just hurt my head a little."  
"Sorry." Rick said kissing the top her head.  
"We should get ready for that party." Kate said getting up off the bed.

They headed downstairs, and Rick decided to try and make xomd bacon and pancakes for Kate. He'd only tried once or twice before, and he wanted to do a really good job. He found some chocolate chips and laid them into the pancakes so that it formed a smiley face. When he served them to Kate, she got a huge smile on her face.  
"Wow! How did you learn how to do this? It reminds me of my mom's pancakes when I was little."  
"I wanted to do something special for you. Partly because of last night, and also partly because you are the girlfriend that I was always meant to meet and be with." Kate then got up and walked around the counter to Rick and gave him a long kiss that reminded him of how last night had gone.  
"That's my thank you for last night, as well!"  
"Well, I'm going to eat all the bacon, ifyou don't give me a hug at the end.", he said with a smirk.  
Kate moved all the bacon over to her plate, but then took one piece of it and held it up to her lips. "Come and get it, Rick" and she closed her lips over it as if in a kiss. He moved over to her, kissing her and end the end of the kiss, he grabbed the ends of the bacon and bit them off.  
"Mm Mm Good! That's my kind of bacon. I like it!" He then looked over at her and said "And thank YOU for such a great kiss."

A hour into the party. Rick had made the big mistake of introducing Kate to Julia. His ex step sister. Heaven knows what she was going to tell Kate. Julia really was a wild child.  
"Hey Ricky." He rolled his eyes at the nickname. Oh how he hated the nickname Ricky.  
He felt Noah put an arm around his neck. "You've been standing here like a statue. Loosen up. Have some fun. Go hit up on Holly. Or else, I've heard about Susie, she's looking for a boy-toy!"  
"I'm looking for Julia, I made the mistake of introducing Julia to my girlfriend, and now I can't find Kate."  
Noah started to laugh and patted Ricks back. "That was funny." Noah said taking another sip of his drink.  
"No joke, I really have a girlfriend called Kate."  
"Well I don't see her."  
"Are you really that drunk?" Rick asked Noah.  
"IT'S A PARTY BABY!" Noah screamed at the top of his lungs and then disappeared into the crowd.  
"Every year." Rick's friend James says, walking up to him.  
"You got that right."  
"So I over heard somehow over this loud music, that you have a girlfriend." James said to him.  
"Yeah, I do, her name is Kate." Rick said grinding like an idiot.  
"How's that going?" James asked.  
"We're doing real good."  
"So. Senior year? Next year, any plans?" James asked Rick.  
"I want to become a writer and I wanted to stay in New York but Kate's had her heart set on Stanford. She's wanted to be a lawyer like her mom, ever since she was ten. But it will be okay. Kate and I just need to figure it out."  
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but in long distances relationships, you can plan and figure out as much as you like, but sometime it will all come crashing down. I would enjoy it while it lasts."  
"What do you mean? What are we supposed to do?" Rick asked.  
"Your best bet is to set her free, and if she truly loves you, she will comes back it was meant to be."  
"But what if she's too heartbroken to come back or doesn't get the message?"  
"Then I don't know, what're you going to do?" James shrugged his shoulders and walked off.

Rick had a dream that night. Its years into the future, and he and Kate have broken up. He runs into her at the park she looks a bit older but still beautiful. She's getting a divorce from a love less marriage cause she never found love again and his getting his first divorce he married his drunken rebound and now it was over.  
The sweat drips off him and his heart is beating so fast. "It's just a dream." He repeats to himself.  
But he can't convince himself it was a dream it felt so realistic. But he hoped it didn't turn out like that. When he pictured the future it had Kate and him sharing it together not both of them getting divorced from other people.  
He wants Kate to be his first and only wife. He wants her to be the mother of his kids. The woman he wakes up to every morning. His morning kiss or any kiss. The woman he could never get sick of making love too.  
Rick pushed the sheets back. Turned on the cold water and splashed it over his face afterwards he headed to bed and tried to think of other things.


	17. Chapter 17

**I would just like to say sorry in me know what you think.**

Dismissed. Don't forget to do your homework for tomorrow." Mrs. Cynthia called out when the bell went.  
"I'm not going to be at lunch today, " Kate told Rick as they packed up.  
"Why not?"  
"Some speakers are coming to talk to people in their senior year, about going to Stanford."  
"Oh so, your still thinking about Stanford?" Rick asked, trying not to sound heartbroken.  
"We've got a whole year to think about it, Rick, and It's not a choice I can make overnight."  
"Maybe I could check it out? See if it's a good enough place for my girl."  
"Okay if you really want to go." Kate said putting her bag over her shoulder.

He was starting to regret coming. Kate would fit in so well, and would become a great lawyer, and any firm would be lucky to have her. Still, he remembered James' words and his dream from that night. He wanted her to choose him over Stanford more than anything but he also wanted her to be happy. But what if, later on, she regretted choosing him over Stanford. Rick felt he knew what he had to do.

"Mister Rodgers, stay behind please." The maths teacher told him as everyone walked out of the classroom after the bell went.  
"Yes, Sir."  
"Is everything okay?" Mr. Jean asked.  
"Yes, Sir."  
"Then why are you not doing your work, your the best in the class but lately you've been slacking, and today, when I handed out the quiz, you gave me the sheet back with only your name on it and nothing to mark."  
"I don't know Sir, but I will start to get back on track with my work."  
"Good. Now go, and enjoy your afternoon."  
"Thank you, Sir."

"Is everything okay with Rick?" Javier asked Kate at her locker.  
"Yeah, why?"  
"I just had maths with him and he stared at the wall for one hour and didn't do his quiz."  
"Actually I might know, what this is about I'll see you later, " Kate said closing her locker and picking up her bag.

Kate waited for Rick at his car. She saw him walking up and thought she'd have a conversation with him. She was worried about him because he seemed to be more distant, and she didn't know why. Maybe she could find out.  
"Javier just told me that you weren't focusing in maths this afternoon. Is everything all right?" Kate asked when as he approached.  
"Maybe Javi should focus more on his own quiz, and less on me." Rick unlocked the car and got in.  
"He's just worried about you Rick, and I am, too," Kate said, also getting in the car.  
"There's nothing to be worried about, " Rick mumbled, sitting there and not starting the car.  
"This is about Stanford isn't it?" Kate asked as she fidgeted with her hair.  
He really wasn't ready for this talk yet. Still, if it was happening now, he'd talk too. "So what if it is, Kate? You would fit in really well there, and I saw how happy you were when they were talking the whole time."  
"Well, of course! I've always dreamed of becoming a lawyer, just like my mom,", she said plaintively.  
"I knew you shouldn't have come to the talk,", she said, regretfully.  
"I wanted to go to the talk to see what Stanford could offer you and to see if I could offer more." Then he looked down at his hands, "But I can't. I can't give you anything!"  
"Maybe I don't want what Stanford is offering?"  
"Sure you do, Kate. All the people you'll meet, all the things you'll do, all the places you'll see, and all the things you'll learn. So, you know what, Kate? Go to Stanford, see if I care." Rick snapped again, hitting his hand on the steering wheel, and closing his eyes.  
"You don't care?" Kate asked, trying not to cry.  
"That's what I said, wasn't it?", he replied, looking forward again.  
Kate unclipped her seatbelt, grabbed her books, and got out of the car. "Where are you going?" Rick asked.  
"You don't care, remember?" Kate said slamming the door and heading away.

"Hey," Rick said when Megan sat down next to him.  
"Hi Rick, what are you doing here?" Megan asked.  
"My mother wanted me to come to her practice. So here I am."  
"She's a really good actor, your mom."  
"Mm-hmm, I think so too. Thanks. Megan."  
Megan could tell something was up with Rick and she hoped it was something wrong with his girlfriend. Rick was cute, and it wasn't fair that Kate was hogging him.  
"Are you okay?" Megan asked touching his arm.  
Rick jumped at her touch. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
"Well whenever you need to talk to someone, I'm always right here." She said again now rubbing his arm.  
"Thanks, " Rick said nervously.  
"You know I can make you forget about her," Megan whispered in his ear.  
"What?" Rick asked her and before he knew it, she had cupped his face with her hands and kissed him.  
Megan opened her eye a little to see Kate looking at them, just like she'd hoped. "Your girlfriend has spotted us, " Megan whispered, and giggled in his ear.  
Rick turned around to see Kate. Leaning against the wall with tears dripping down her face she gathered herself and slowly shuffled away. Rick got up and started to run after her,"


	18. Chapter 18

**Let me know what you think?**

As Rick started running towards Kate, she must have heard him because she started running as fast as she could. She steadily left him behind, and when he got to the parking lot, he saw that her car was just leaving the lot and driving away.

"I'm such an idiot!", Rick said to himself. "Now she thinks I'm seeing someone else!"

Rick wandered the parking lot for a few minutes, deciding whether he should go back in or just leave. Just as he decided to go to his car, Megan came running up.

"Whatsa matter, Ricky? Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I could make you feel better? Come on back to the theater, we can rest in there.", she pleads with him.

Rick was ashamed of himself and was feeling very down. 'I can't live without her, but I don't want to stop her from being as great as she can be' he thinks to himself. 'I guess I need to sit down and think about this. Maybe if I relax, my mind will be clearer on how to straighten things out with her.

"Sure, we can go back inside. I really need to sit down." Rick said to Megan.

Megan smiles at him and grabs his arm. She starts leading him back inside. "Don't you worry. I'm sure you'll get your problem taken care of. No problem!" She leads him back into the theater, and Megan successfully nudges him to sit in the rear of the theater. He sits down and puts his head in his hands. "So what's the matter with you and Kate? Is she too demanding? Is she seeing somebody else? Doesn't she want to let you have some fun? What kind of problem have you gone with her?

Rick heaves a heavy sigh. "She wants to go to Stanford for college, and I can't afford to go with her. I told her that she should go, no matter what, but I was an ass. She's got these dreams of being a big lawyer like her mom… And… I don't want to take that away from her."

"Wow, Rick. You're a really great guy to let her go off and do that. It's true, life can be hard, but making the effort can pay off. Still, at what point are you wasting your time on an unreachable goal? But you know what the say: Long distance relationships almost never work. She finds someone else, you find someone else. One of you gets bored. I don't even see the point of doing that. It's like playing the lottery, you pretty much never win."

Megan looked into his eyes. "Rick, sometimes you have to realize when something is a lost cause. You need to not worry about it and work things out in a way that CAN work for you. Maybe you can have a relationship with someone here in New York, someone who isn't going to leave you behind. Have you ever considered that?"

At this point, Megan took Rick's hands in hers. "You need to be realistic about this stuff, you know? There are a lot of girls out there. Some would even enjoy your company. Have you ever thought about that? There's a lot of fish in the sea, and this fish is biting!" Megan moved her head closer to Rick's. He was still face down into his hands. Megan leaned over and started massaging the shoulder she was nearest to, and then started nibbling on his neck and kissing his cheek near his ear. "Mmm, come on, Rick. Let me know how you feel. Let me help you. I'm sure I can make you feel a lot better. You don't have to worry about me leaving. I plan on staying here in the city, and I'd be happy to spend my time with you."

Rick had only partially been listening to her. It wasn't until he felt her lips on his neck that made him think of Kate. And with a sudden realization what was happening, he sat up, jostling Megan back into her own seat. "Megan!? Uh… I'm s-sorry… I've gotta get home and … um, work on my homework for tomorrow. Uh. Sorry, gotta go!" and he jumped over the back of the seats and ran out of the theater.

A moment or two later, Megan heard his car start up."Yep," she said to herself. "This is going to be difficult. But not impossible. It's my turn now, and I'm going to win!" And with that, she sat back and made fun of Martha and the other actors in the rehearsal.

/

The next day at school, Rick doesn't see Kate at all. She isn't in any of the few classes that they share together. After lunch, he found Javier and asked him if he had seen her or heard from her. "Nope, I tend to keep to myself. I'm trying to get good enough grades so that when I apply for the army after I graduate, maybe they'll get me into sniper school. Would that be cool!"

"Uh, well, yeah, that sounds really… cool, Javier. Good luck on that." And he finishes out his day.

The next day, it's the same.

And the next day…

And the next.

It's now the weekend, so he decides to head over to Kate's house and talk to her directly. In her home. They're going to work this out and everything will be fine. When he arrives at her house, he knocks on the front door. Two minutes go by and there is no response. He knocks again and rings the doorbell. Two more minutes go by. He knocks again, rings the doorbell again, and calls out loudly, "KATE! Are you here?" After another two minute delay, the front door opens. It's Johanna, Kate's mom.

"Sorry, Rick. I was out back tending to my garden. You know those tomatoes that you and Kate love."

"Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Beckett. I'm looking for Kate. Do you know when she'll be back? Or maybe, where she went?"

"Well, she told her father and I that she had some work to do today and that she'd be driving around a bit, taking care of everything. See? Her car's gone, too."

"Oh. Well, can I leave her a message?"

"Um, no, Rick. She said she didn't want to talk about you or hear from you. I'm sorry." Johanna says, with a sad look on her face. "I don't know what happened between you, two kids. Katie's been so happy for all these months, ever since the two of you have been dating. She hasn't told me what's the matter, and I'm sorry that it's causing such problems for Kate, and for you, too. I'll try to at least tell her that you came by and that you were hoping to talk to her. When she gets home, that is."

"Okay, thanks, Mrs. Beckett. Since I can't tell her myself, apparently, Please tell her that I love her, and that I miss her, and that I'm really sorry for screwing up so badly."

"I'll try, Rick. Good luck otherwise!"

Rick got back in his car and drove off, sadness in his heart, but still hoping he made the right choice, though he's beginning to realize he didn't handle it very well.

/

When Rick got home, his brother Joe was eating a sandwich at the kitchen counter. "Hey there, lover boy. I'm guessing things aren't so great in paradise, are they? Ha ha ha"

"What do you mean, Joe. Why are you being such a douche?"

"Well, Kate stopped by about 10 minutes ago and left you something in a box over there. Looks pretty fancy, huh?"

Rick walks over to the kitchen table. He recognizes the small white box immediately. The top is off and he can see the beautiful necklace he'd bought Kate on their last day in the Hamptons. It was a gold chain with several amethyst stones in the middle that she had treasured when he gave it to her. She had said that purple was her favorite color.

Rick was heartbroken when he hears this. He didn't want things between Kate and him to end. He knows that Stanford would cause such a distance between them, and he didn't want her to feel bad about going there. He wanted her to focus on her dream and he didn't want to be a lead weight holding her back. He knew Kate could be so great. 'The first female Supreme Court Justice', is what she had said to him. "Did she say anything?"

"Yep," Joe said. She told me to tell you 'Give this to Rick, so he'll have something to remember me by when I'm gone, if he even cares'. And then she just ran back to her car and drove off."

**Ouch Poor Rick. **


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you so much to my followers and my reviews for you feedback keep it up. Love hearing your thoughts. But a bigger thanks to Frank this story wouldn't be this good without you, Frank.

Rick sat down at the table, next to the necklace in the box. He thought he was helping the situation by keeping her to her goal. How could he have been so stupid! How could he have been so wrong! He lowered his head for a moment. Then he started hitting his head on the table. Once! Twice! Thrice! Then a fourth time, very hard. He was feeling a little woozy.

"Damn, Megan! Damn, women! Well, not Kate. Damn, me! Damn, STUPID me! How am I going to fix this? I can't lose her! But I can't keep her from going to Stanford. I need to find a balance, a solution..."

Joe decided that he wanted some fun, so he decided to poke the hornet's nest. He walked over to Rick. "You know, I don't see what you're getting so worked up about. There are a lot of women out there. It's nothing to worry about. As long as your confidant, I'd imagine that any girl would do. What's the big deal? Kate's not that special. She just another tramp. Pick a better one."

Rick's mind went into shock. He opened his eyes, and everything was red. He stood up swiftly, turned on Joe, and with anger he'd never felt before, he socked him in the mouth. Although Joe tried to block the punch, he was far too slow. It was David and Goliath, all over again. He went stumbling over against the lower cabinets and fell to the floor.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! KATE IS EXTRAORDINARY! THERE IS NO WOMAN BETTER THEN HER! You IDIOT! I don't ever want to hear you badmouth her again!". Once he had finished yelling, Rick stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Joe still unconscious on the floor, and he went up to his room and locked the door.

When he got there, he threw himself down on his bed. He buried his head in his pillow and thought about Kate. He knew he couldn't just dwell on memories. He hoped fervently that they were not all he had left.

"What kind of solution is there? She thought I was with someone else. Damn, that Megan. How can I show Kate that she's still foremost in my thoughts and heart. What can I do to demonstrate that for her? She's not going to want to talk to me. How else can I communicate with her?

Rick laid there, wracking his brains for a way to tell her what she means to him.

"I could write her a letter! No, she'd probably just tear it up and throw it out. Could I get someone to act as a middleman for me? Or middle-woman? Maybe Lanie? No, she wouldn't be able to tell Kate what my innermost thoughts are, and only I can tell Kate what is in my heart. Then, his mind flashed back to the evening in the Hamptons, the night before they came home.

**Flashback begins **

_Ryan, Espo, and Lanie were sitting on the beach with Rick and Kate. They were watching the waves come in and go out. It was very soothing, and it helped them all to talk about important things in their hearts and minds._

_Ryan spoke up first. "I wish that Jenny could have been here with us. I kind of feel like a third, or fifth wheel."_

_"I hear ya, bro" Epso replied to him. "How are things going with you two?"_

_"Well, her whole family had to go to visit an older aunt that is pretty sick, so she couldn't come. I miss being with her, and she always makes's my life fun. We really seem to get along really well. I'm hoping we end up going to the same college together. I'm thinking of NYU, to get into Law enforcement. Having Jenny there with me would really make things easier, and I'd feel safer that she was with me. What about you, Javi? Are you and Lanie planning on college together?"_

_"Naw. I've got my sights set on the Army. An older cousin of mine told me about the Special Forces, and that's what I'd like to get into."_

_Kate spoke up. "What about you, Lanie? What're your plans?"_

_"Girl? You know what I told you last year and the year before. I'm getting a medical degree. I'm gonna be a Doctor!"_

_"Yeah, but I didn't know if you still felt the same way," Kate replied._

_"Well, that's okay. I have kind of a one-track mind about that. Kinda like you, and your lawyer stuff. Heck, maybe you and Ryan might see each other, because of your professions."_

_"I don't know," Rick interjected. "I have this vision of myself going before the judge, for something dumb, like stealing a horse, and Kate would be the judge. I'd probably never get out of jail!"_

_They all laughed about that, and then Lanie got up and dusted any sand off her. "It's about time for my beauty sleep, you know? It's already 1 AM and I need some sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow. You coming, Javi?"_

_"You bet, chica. 'Night, all." He said as he followed Lanie into the house._

_At that, the other three friends got up. "I guess, I'm gonna crash, too," Ryan said._

_"Okay, Kev. Kate and I are going to walk the beach for a bit. See you in the morning!"_

_"See ya, Kevin," Kate added as he headed into the house._

_"So, we're going to walk on the beach, huh?"_

_"Yeah. I hope you don't mind, Kate. I wanted to tell you something, in private. Is that alright?"_

_"Sure, Rick. I gotta tell you, being away from the city is so nice. With no bright lights, you can see all the stars! All the constellations, it's beautiful!"_

_"And that is exactly why I wanted to talk to you alone." Rick reached into the pocket of his windbreaker jacket. He pulled out a small white box, about 3 inches by 4 inches (about 7cm by 10cm). "Here, this is for you. Open it."_

_Kate hesitated for a moment. They hadn't given each other any 'real' gifts yet. So, she carefully held it in one hand while removing the lid with the other. Even in the darkness, she could get a glimpse of several somethings sparking in the box. She tilted_

_ it towards the light coming from the house floodlights, and she gasped for breath._

_"Oh, Rick! It's lovely! I've always wanted a necklace like this. And the stones are purple! Did you know that it's my favorite color? Oh, goodness." she said as you viewed it in the box. "Could you put it on me?"_

_Rick carefully removed the necklace from the box. It was in the shape of a heart, hanging from the upper right curve. There were 6 delicate Amethysts, each larger than the one before. They followed the lower left edge of a frame of the heart's curve. It was all set in fine sterling silver with a textured rope design. He unlocked the clasp and walked behind Kate. Reaching over her head, he gently brought the necklace down to her chest, and then fastened it behind her neck. Kate's hand flew to the gems, holding it gingerly. It was so lovely. So… her!_

_"Thank you, Rick. Thank you, so much! This means so much to me. I will always wear this. Always. How did you know that purple was my favorite color, or that amethysts were my favorite jewel?"_

_"I learned by viewing the most perfect work of art, known to man. You, Kate. You."_

_With a happy sob, she threw her arms around Rick's neck. She drew him down to her and kissed him tenderly. So perfect. If this was her life, she would never trade it for anything!_

_They stood there, swaying slightly. Together, holding their soul mate. Kissing them with abandon. Finally, they had to break for air. "Well, Ricky. You've set the bar pretty high for yourself. I don't see how you're going to top this one." she teased._

_"Oh, don't worry; I have another idea that I'm toying with. I had the local jeweler here in town make that for you, iBut I'm working up ideas for a book that I can write for you. Something I can dedicate to you."_

_Kate didn't say anything; she just beamed at him, and then leaned forward and buried her head into the crook of his neck._

**Flashback ends **

"That's it! I know what I'll do." he said. He got up from bed, headed over to his desk, started his computer, made sure he had plenty of paper, and he started typing.

Although he started shortly after noon, Rick was a focused machine. He quickly wrote down the basic outline of what he wanted, and began. Thank goodness, for spell-checkers. Rick worked his way thru dinner, ignoring his brother, Joe's yelling. "Come on, you asshole. It's dinner. Mom is expecting you, so get down here!".

But Rick ignored him. Later that night, his mother knocked on the door. "Richard? Are you coming out? We had dinner an hour ago. What's wrong?"

Rick was very intent on his task. But he briefly took a few seconds to call to her. "Mom, I'm really busy. I'll see you guys sometime tomorrow, okay? Later!"

Martha was a big concerned. She had seen Rick writing before. That's the reason she got him that Windows 95 computer. It was a lot faster than hand-writing it, and he liked it. But she'd never seen him this intense. She was dismayed at what he had done to Joe, but Joe had lately been getting a bit disrespectful. She'd likely have to sit the two of them down tomorrow or Sunday and see about getting this straightened out. "Good night, Richard. See you in the morning."

A grunt was his only reply, along with the keys on the keyboard being hit repeatedly, like a Morse code machine.

/

The next morning, Martha left her room and made a short detour past Rick's room. She could still hear him typing away in there. "Goodness, you really are focused." she said to herself.

The morning passed by until it was almost lunch. She was getting cold cuts ready, along with some rye bread rolls to have them on. All of a sudden, she heard a very loud "Yes!" followed by the slamming of a door upstairs.

Rick came into the kitchen, carrying a box, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, although much more wrinkled. Plus, she could see circles under his eyes and a tremendous look of weariness upon him. "Richard? Would you care for a sandwich? I have your favorite kind. Roast Beef and cheddar cheese. I have two different kinds of mustard, but I have hidden the peanut butter and Gnutella away. They don't belong on cold cuts."

"Thanks, mother. I'm so tired, and so hungry, that I'll just have the sandwich with some horseradish mustard, if that's okay." He grabbed three rolls, piled on the meat and cheese, spread the mustard, and took them over to the table. He then grabbed a bottle of water and sat down. The first sandwich was gone in a minute flat. Rick gave out a sigh of contentment before starting on the second. As he ate, he slowed down as he filled up. He finished his bottle of water. He was just starting to get up from the table, when Joe came in the room. Joe gave Rick a look that would have killed him, if Rick hadn't become immune to them. He faced Joe proudly, but didn't move towards him. Joe started to hunch over a little bit, as if he was going to charge Rick, when they both heard their mother.

"Boys! Stop right now! You are are not going to get into any fights today. In fact, tonight you and I are going to have a talk and you are both going to apologize for what you did!"

Joe and Rick both started up. "But Mom, he punched…" Joe protested.

"Mother, if you had heard what he said…" Rick also protested

"I don't want to hear it! Shut up and have lunch, Joe. Rick, I assume that you have business outside the house?"

"Yes, Mom" they both said. Joe sat down, and Rick walked away, heading outside to go to his car, carrying the box.

/

Rick drove straight to Kate's house. He walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. After only a moments wait, the door opened. It was Kate.

"What do you want, Rodgers?"

"Kate, I wanted to give you this." He handed her the box. "I know that I've acted like an ass, but I'm not giving up. I want to show you how I feel and what you mean to me. Kate, you inspire me and give me hope for better things. I know we have a lot to talk about, but I want you to have this book I wrote for you. This is what I think of what you mean to me and how important it is to me to solve this problem I've caused. And even if you don't think it's enough, I'm going to keep trying and I'm going to do my absolute best to be worthy of you."

"Rick, a book isn't going to fix what happened. I can't use it to paste my heart back together."

"Please, Kate. I won't screw up this time. I know what's important, and I know what's important to you. Please let me have a chance to fix this, please?"

"I trusted you once with my heart Rick, I don't know if I can trust you with it again."

"Kate, just read the book. Please tell me what you think. Let my book be the beginning of a new start of things between us. I hope that you will agree, once you've read it."

"Fine. I'll do that much. I'll call you, don't call me."

Chastened, Rick smiles sadly, backs away, and says "Good bye, Kate. For now. I hope to hear from you again." He smiled once more and then turned and left back to his car. He then drove off with no particular place in mind. He hoped she'd like it and be moved to call him. "I've only got once last chance here. I'm NOT going to screw it up!".

/

Rick had been gone for about an hour. Kate had ate lunch alone, in her room. After a while, her stomach started to feel upset. She had to run to the bathroom to throw up. She splashed some water on her face, and the got a glass of it to drink. She started feeling better. It was probably due to all the stress she's been under during this last week.

**HEAT WAVE BY RICHARD CASTLE.**

She turned the page over to see a heartwarming dedication from Rick.

**To my extraordinary Kate. My love, my soul, my heart. I will always fight for you, and to be yours. You give my poor life meaning. I can only hope that all who read this can know even a small part of the depths of my love for you, and my support for you. Always.**

She closed the book and bursted into tears. This is what she got for falling in love.

**Reminder this is set in the 90's hence the windows 95 computer. And I swear the drama will be over soon. **


	20. Chapter 20

Kate was stunned. She had made up her mind about Rick. But… look at that! If that's how he really feels…  
'Did I misunderstand him? Did I react too quickly? It didn't seem like it at first, but maybe…' she thinks to herself. 'Okay, let's read this and see what he can do' she thinks with a small smile, and she starts reading.

Rick stops for a bite at a fast food place. After getting a sandwich and drink, he sits down to eat it and think about what the future will hold. 'I hope my book is a good starting place for us. If I lose her…' he grimaces in disgust. 'I know. I've got to be positive. But it feels like as far as we've come, we've slid back even farther. All those good times together. Leading up to the one, perfect weekend. I've got to try my best. But will that be good enough?'

Rick finishes eating his meal and leaves. He decides he needs another opinion. Maybe Javi might have some good advice. As he drives over there, his mind is running thru possible ways and things he can do. Finally, he arrives. He heads up to the door and pauses. 'Am I doing the right thing by bring other people into this? His mind made up, he knocks. After a short delay, the door opens. It's Javier. "Hi, Javi. How're you doing?"  
"Hey, Rick! Come on in. Kevin and I are in here playing Doom. I'm kicking his ass, so far…"

"No he's not!" Kevin yells out from in the living room. "He only found a way to get past the boss level. I've still got more stuff then him!"

Rick walks in and sees them with snacks and soda sitting on a table in from of the couch. He comes around and sits in a chair to the side, not really paying much attention to their game. He seems so oblivious to it, that even the boys recognize it.  
"What's up, Rick?" Kevin asks. "You seem like your in another world."  
"Yeah, Rick. What's going on? Did somebody die or something?" Javi adds.  
"Sorry, guys. I got a lot on my mind these days, and I'm looking for some advice." He pauses. "Kate and I have been having some problems lately, and for all intents and purposes, we've broken up. I'm trying to figure out what I can do to get her back.  
The boys think for a moment. Ryan speaks up first. "So, in order to best help you, what were the circumstances of the breakup?"

"Um, well, uh… Kate has always talked about going to be a lawyer, like her mom. That always sounded like a good idea to me. Until we got together, earlier this year. But once we got together, I've been imagining the futre, and it doesn't look so hot. She's got 4-6 years of college ahead of her. She'll be in California, and I'll be here. My mom doesn't make enough to send me to a college out there. I'm probably going to a community college here, if she can swiing it. Anyways, that means I'll be lucky to see Kate when she visits on spring break, Christmas, very rare times each year. For so many years, I'm sure that she'll probably find some other guy, and forget about me, about us. I normally wouldn't even talk to you guys, or anyone about it. But I'm out of other options here. About 10 days ago, Kate and I were talking and the subject of Stanford came up. I stupidly told her to just go, Because I can see the writing on the wall, I said that I didn't care. I guess I didn't say it very nicely, as if you could. She left then and headed for home. Or at least I thought she did. I went back inside to the theater where my mom works. This other girl Megan had been talking to me earlier, and she was there again. At first, she seemed like she wanted to help." At this, Espo snorts to himself. Rick continued. "But after a few minutes, she grabbed me and started kissing me! And then, when I pushed her away, I saw Kate was near and watching me. She ran out of the theater and I haven't seen her since. At least, not until lunch today. She thinks I cheated on her! I didn't want Megan to kiss me. Ug

"Yeah, Megan can get sorta 'focused' if you're not careful", Ryan teased.  
At this point, Javi made a telling comment. "Good luck, Bro. If you hang with Megan, I think you're about to go where... everyone has gone before!" At this, two of the guys had a laugh. That being Espo and Ryan.

"Really guys, as much as I'm not interested in Megan, she's NOT the real problem. How can I get Kate to forgive me? I open my yap, and I screwed up

really bad."  
"If I had to make a suggestion," Ryan said, "have you tried to sit down and talk to her? The ladies always say that we don't talk to them enough. Try that."

"I already tried several times. I don't even think she went to school last week. I didn't see her anywhere. I've gone to her house numerous times, and although her mom is nice about it, Kate hasn't wanted to see me. She'd either not come to the door, or she'd already be out and doing other things. Only this morning have I seen her. As I said earlier, I first saw her at lunch time today. I gave her a book and then left. She had very little to say to me."

"Rick, the only suggestion I can give you is keep showing up. Keeping doing the best you can, and eventually she'll talk to you and maybe you'll have a chance then." Javi told him.

"Alright. I really appreciate you guys for helping me out here. You're about the only ones I can talk to about this. I made what I hope is the first move earlier today. I need to wait until later, or tomorrow to see what she says."  
"That's cool, bro. You wanna play some Doom with us for a while? Maybe take you're mind of things?"  
"Sure, it'd be nice to relax for a bit. I was up all last night doing a project for her. I could use something less stressful.

"Stressful is what my life is now, mom! I don't know what I'm going to do about Rick. He gave me a book that he wrote, and I'm halfway thru it so far. It's pretty good, but I don't know what to think other than I think I'm under too much stress these days." Kate said to her mother.

"Katie. You know how much I like Rick. He's a good boy and he's always been very respectful of you. I hope the two of you can work things out between the both of you. Every relationship has problems. You just need to look for them and try to accommodate the other.

"I guess. I think I want to go and finish that book that he gave me. I hope it can calm me down. Rick is such a good writer. I've been feeling kind of nauseous lately and it's probably because of all these feelings and problems. I hope it goes away soon."  
"Well, dinner is in about an hour. Please be down here when you here your father come home. Alright?"  
"You bet, mom. Thanks for being so understanding." And Kate headed back up to her room.  
Later, for dinner, Lanie came by and enjoyed the meal with the Beckett family. Afterwards, the girls went up to Kate's room to talk.  
"So, girl, what's going on with you. I haven't seen neither hide nor hair of you during the last week. Have you been home?"  
"Yeah. I've been so upset about Rick's breakup with me that I couldn't go to school. Fortunately, my mom is friends with the principal. He just sent over my home work and I've been doing it each day. And on top of that, I've been feeling under the weather, lately."  
"What do you mean, under the weather? Like a cold or flu?"  
"No. I've just been nauseous with an upset stomach. I'm hoping it goes away soon, it's not pretty."  
"Kate, how long have you been feeling this sickness for? A week or two? A day or two? How long?"  
"Um, well, I guess for the last 3-4 days, I suppose. Mostly I'm throwing up a lot."  
Lanie grins mischievously at her. You know, I think I might have an idea about what you've caught. If you don't mind, I know that I was going to stay overnight, but I need to prepare a few things at home. You're gonna be home tomorrow, right?"  
"Yeah. I've got Rick's book to finish reading. I'll be home all day tomorrow. Why?"  
"Don't worry about anything. I'll be back around 10 AM and we'll talk further then. Okay?"  
"Sure, Lanie. I'll see you then. Thanks for being a good friend to me. I hope I never lose you as my BFF!"  
Lanie gives Kate a quick hug. "Okay, see you tomorrow morning. Bye!" and she leaves.  
The next morning, after Kate has had a rather light breakfast, there's a knock on the door. She goes to see who it is and finds Lanie on the porch. "Hi, Lanie. Come on in!"  
"Kate, are you doing anything important downstairs, right now? Chores, eating, … anything?"  
"Nope, I was just going to head back to my room, that's all."  
"Good! Come on." Lanie leads her up to her room. When they get up there, Lanie opens her purse and takes out a small paper bag. "Kate, I'm not 100% sure about this, but I've got a hunch. I need you to do something, okay?"

"You're making me a little nervous, Lanie. What do I need to do?"  
Lanie took the contents out of the paper bag. It was two pregnancy tests.  
"Lanie! What are those for? I'm not pregnant! What do you have those for?"  
"Kate, calm down. You're going to call attention to yourself before you want to. From what you told me about, and from what you told ME about for your Hamptons trip, I think you might have gotten lucky. Whether it's good luck or not, I don't know. But with these, we can find out. I got two different brands. They both work the same. That way we can try to find out. Please?"  
"But, Lanie. I don't *feel* pregnant. I'm sure that my runs to the bathroom are only because of all the stress and emotions I'm going thru. Why would you accuse me of that?"

"Kate, think. I was here yesterday at dinner. You hardly ate anything. And yet, you had to loosen your pants because you said "Oh, these feel too tight. You and Rick were together about, what, 6 weeks ago? This is about the time you'd typically notice it. Come on, it's quick to do. They each need 3 minutes to process the sample. If you're oregbabt, you get a plus sign. If you're not, it stays a minus sign. If you are, the sooner you find out, the better chance you have for a healthy pregnancy, right? You know what we learned in health class. You need to know!" Lanie paused. "Now here, go do the tests". Kate took the two and walked over to the upstairs bathroom. "Let me know when to start the timer, Kate."  
After a moment or two, Kate called out "Now.". After another moment, Kate let Lanie into the bathroom with her. After the three minutes, Lanie told her "Okay. Check the results."

Kate looked at them both, worry and hesitation in her eyes. "Lanie, one says PLUS and one says MINUS. What do I do? Am I pregnant?"  
"Kate, that's alright. I came prepared for just this situation." Lanie reached into her purse and took out one MORE pregnancy test. "This is from a third brand. Try this and this will break the tie. We'll find out for you."  
Kate stayed in the bathroom. Shortly she called out "Start now". And after a bit, she opened the door for Lanie.  
It seemed to take forever for the three minutes to go by. Finally, Lanie said. "Time's up. What's the result?"  
Kate seemed a bit unstead on her feet, but she looked over at the third test. "Lanie?" Kate paused. "It looks like… a PLUS!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks to Frank for the chapter. And I'm very excited to announce that there will be a sequel to this story. **

"Oh, my God! What am I going to do, Lanie? I can't be pregnant! I can't! What will my parents think! What will they do! What will Rick do! Oh no!"

"Kate! Calm down! Compose yourself. Your mom or dad will hear, and they'll come up here. You need to calm down." Lanie was holding Kate by her upper arms. "Kate, this is not the end of the world. You can get thru this. Just take it a step at a time. You can do this." Lanie was doing her best to keep Kate calm.

"Lanie!", Kate said weeping. "I haven't even graduated from High School. What am I going to do?"

"Okay, you need to break this into small things. First. I have to ask you what is probably a dumb question, but it's important. I'm sorry to have to ask this but is there any chance that anyone else could be the father?"

"Lanie! How can you ask me that! I only love Rick. I'd never be with anyone else! Rick is the father!"

"Sorry, Kate. I figured that was the case. But I had to get that out of the way. So you'll need to start thinking about how you'll tell Rick. He's the father. He'll want to know. He deserves to know."

"Oh, God. How can I tell him?"

"Even though you're carrying that little munchkin, he gets to have a say in this, too. Besides, if you really love him, like you just said you do, wouldn't you want to have a baby with him? Isn't that somewhere in the life-long relationship plan, usually?"

"Yeah, I guess. But raising a child is an important responsibility. Ideally, I really think I'd like to have the baby. But… what will happen with me when it's born?"

"You really need to stop assuming the worst. Just 'cuz you have a kid doesn't mean you can't have a life. If you and Rick work things out, you'll be working together to take care of the munchkin. And even if you Don't get together, I know Rick, and he's going to want to be a part of that baby's life. And there is one other option, you know. You could always give the baby up for adoption. There's lots of couples out there that can't have kids and are always looking for a cute baby to raise themselves. You have a number of options, Kate."

"I know, you're right. I guess right now, I'm terrified of telling my parents, and telling Rick. I can't even predict how they'll handle it, how Rick will handle it. Lanie, what should I do?"

"Look. Why don't you take a few days. Maybe the week. You don't have to tell people right now. Think about it, think about the different possible futures. Maybe if you let it sink in, you'll come up with a good way to tell your folks, and Rick. You don't have to do it today. If I had to, I'd say they need to know in the next few weeks. A month at most. Part of that is because you'll need to go in and have a doctor look you over and make sure everything is good and healthy. You don't want anything to happen to my Godchild, do you?" Lanie teased.

"No, I guess you're right."

"You're darn right, I'm right! Now go and relax and I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be there. Wow! School. That's going to be weird… and then difficult."

"Kate, don't worry about it. There are two other girls at school who are more pregnant then you. One of them is Carol Anderson. She's the blonde in Mr Grouper's class. And the other one is Ann, um… Ann, um.. Past? Pasting? No, it's Ann Hastings. She in the Junior class and she's about 6 months along. Carol is only 3 months. Or is it 4? Anyways, you should talk to them when you're ready. They can give you some tips on what to expect, and having the chance to talk to someone going through this can only help. You're not alone, Kate. And you have friends, too."

"All right. I think you've done your good deed for the day. You've helped me feel a lot better about this, and I'm not freaking out like I was. Thanks, Lanie."

"Okay, girlfriend. I will look forward to seeing you at school tomorrow. And start wearing clothes that will be a bit more comfortable. Things with stretchable waists, and shirts that are blouse-ier, to not make it obvious when you start to show. I'm here for you, Kate. Don't you forget it!"

Thanks again, Lanie. Bye!"

At dinner that night, Kate is not ready to talk to her folks about the baby. However, there IS a topic that she is willing to bring up.

"Hey, Mom? Can you pass the mashed potatoes? … Thanks. You know, I've been thinking of possibly not going to Stanford.", Kate said as she took a serving. When she handed it back, she adjusted yer belt to be a little looser.

Her mother is the first to speak up. "What? I thought it was your heart's dream to do that. If you don't go there, where will you go? Stanford is one of the best law colleges around. Did you want to go somewhere else?"

"Um, well… I've actually been considering changing my major. I'm not sure what yet, but I think that California is just too far away. I want to stay in New York. I'm planning to check into a number of other degrees. I'm not sure yet."

"Katie-bug, what brought this up?" her dad asked. "You've been thinking of a Law degree for, what, 3 years now. Ever since you started Freshman year at Marlowe Prep. What happened that made you change your mind?"

"I've been thinking about this for several reasons. One is Lanie. She's my best friend and she's going to Columbia, It'll be hard to be away from her. Plus my other friends will be here in town. On top of that, you never know when something might come up that can make life difficult if I'm so far away from home."

Johanna thinks she may know why this is coming up. "Kate, I know that you and Rick have been very close until the last week or so. Did you meet someone else that is pressuring you to stay?"

"Mom, no! Of course not! I haven't met anyone new. Not since Rick and I started dating. As for as he and I go, who knows. Thinks may turn around for us. I hope we'll straighten out our problems. And if so, he'd be kind of important to me. He always told me that if I wanted to go to Stanford, I should go." Kate pauses here, thinking back to when this conversation with Rick had come up most recently. "But I'm thinking that there may be some value to staying here. Moving to California would be expensive, time-consuming

, and I'd have no one to share it with. For that reason too, I'm thinking of staying here."

"I'm sure that Rick would be happy to hear that. I guess the real question is: What do you want to get your degree in?" her Mom offers.

"That's right, Katie. I know your mother was pleased when you said you wanted to follow in her footsteps. What parent wouldn't be? But I know that she'd agree with me when I say that we want you to be happy and we hope you'll go far in whatever profession you take. In many ways, you're like your Mom. When she was young, she had thought of being Sales Manager, like her mom. She would have been great at it. Your mom has always been good at talking to people, getting to the truth, figuring out what they want. But she changed her major in her first semester and went for a Law degree. If she hadn't done that, I'd probably have never met her, and you would never have been born. The Beckett women always know their own mind, and you each do well at what you focus on."

He looked warmly over at Johanna, and she gave him a small smile back. "I'm sure that you'll do great with whatever you choose. And if you'll forgive me for saying so, if you have Rick with you, nothing can stop you. You have our full support with your decision and whatever might come up. We're here for you."

Kate was blushing a bit. She thought to herself: 'I wonder if he knows what will be coming up in about 8 or 9 months. I hope they'll remember this when I tell them about the baby.'

"Thanks, Dad. It means a lot for you both to feel that way. I'm going to see what my options are, and I will let you know about what my future holds soon. I hope you'll be okay with my choices."

"Don't worry, Katie." her Mom said. "You're our daughter. Don't worry about it" Johanna decided to change topics. "You have school tomorrow, right?"

"Yep, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends, and lanie especially. It was really great that she came by today."

"Okay sweetie why don't you take a bath to relax and then go to bed."

"Okay, Mom. See you guys tomorrow!" and she left the table.

Johanna turned to Jim and said, "Jim, I don't know why, but something seems different about Kate. I'm wondering what she'll decide on and how it will impact her life. And you know, I just realized something. She was wearing that over-sized blouse that Theresa have her for Christmas last year. Katie always said it was too big for her. I wonder why she's wearing it tonight? I thought she had plenty of clean clothes. I'll have to check on that and we do laundry tomorrow."

The next day, Kate had to get up early again. She packed all the homework she'd worked on the last week, and Lanie met her at the front door for the journey to school. As they walked, Lanie brought up the subject of how last night had gone. "Did you get up the guts to tell your mom and dad last night?"

"Ugh! No, maybe at the end of this week, or maybe next. I have at least a little time before it's required. My biggest worry is finding a way to tell Rick. But on a easier note, I did tell them that I was not going to Stanford. They were a bit surprised about that, but then they both gave me a pep talk to let me know that no matter what I choose, they'll be behind me, 100%."

"See girl? I knew you had good parents. I know the baby will be a bigger surprise then anything, but maybe things won't be so terrible when they find out."

"I guess I'll see."

/

When they got to school, Kate went to her homeroom. She saw Rick there, but she didn't sit next to him. Instead, she sat near the front of the class, near the door, and Lanie sat next to her. Rick could seem them talking back and forth, and once or twice, he could have sworn Kate surreptitiously looked over his way. On the other hand, Lanie looked over at him three times! And she didn't hide it… And each time she did, she looked at him with a very appraising glace. Like she had judged him and found him wanting. 'I've got to be there for Kate. I'm not even going to talk to any other girls' he thought.

And just tat minute, the person in front of him turned around and passed him a sheet of paper. "Here you go, Ricky! Fill out the attendance sheet for the school trip this Friday as to whether you'll be going or not." Rick looked the person in the face. It was Megan! "Don't worry Ricky, I'm going, and I'll make sure I save a seat for you right next to me." she said seductively. Then, she gave him a once over look. From his eyes, to his lips, to his broad chest, and back up. "Yep, you'll sit right next to me, see? There's only one seat le-eft." She said iin a sing-song voice.

And it was true, the layout of the bus was totally filled, except for one seat left. And the other seat next to it said MEGAN P. "Uh, thanks Megan. I'll make my choice and get it back to the teacher. Ur… thanks." he said in a monotone.

/

In Kate's maths class, she heard Ryan talking in a whisper to Espo. "No, really Javi. You should definitely consider it. You get to carry around a gun, wear a uniform, and I know that Lanie would love you in a uniform." Ryan said with a mild teasing laugh. Plus it pays well, you get full benefits, and you can retire after 20 years. Check it out."

"I dunno, Ryan, I kinda got my sights set on the Army. Special Ops, or maybe the Rangers. That would be cool, bro. Shooting the bad guys every day. Doesn't get much better than that!"

At this point, Kate figured she break into the conversation, since the teacher had just left the room to get some supplies and a slide show for the class. "What are you guys talking about? Some kind of video game?"

Espo replied. "No, chica. Ryan here is trying to convince me to be a Police Detective, instead of in the Army. It doesn't seem as good."

"I don't know, Javi. You get to be here, near Lanie. You don't have to worry about IED bombs, for the most part. And you can get paid about the same amount. Maybe you should consider the SWAT unit. Did you ever think about that?"

Esposito looked surprised. He hadn't thought about that. He looked like he was thinking about it. "Well, if I did that, I wonder what division I'd like best. I know they've got Robbery, Major Crimes, Homicide, Vice, and Gangs. I'd probably want Homicide or Major Crimes. Both of those would be a lot of fun. I'm not totally sold yet, but … maybe it'd be a good choice. Plus, Ryan might be working with me, if it all works out."

Kate hadn't realized it, but her reasoning for Espo had actually started her to be thinking about it. That would still be working in Law. It would just be Law Enforcement, instead of judging Law. Maybe her appeal for the Law could be turned a little bit into being a Police Officer.


	22. Chapter 22

Rick was sitting at his desk, in homeroom. He was idling away the time until the bell rang. After a moment, he heard someone walking up to his desk. A female someone. Was it Kate? He looked up. "Oh. Hi Lanie. How are you? Are you going on the school trip, too?"  
"I could swap seats with you." Lanie offered Rick.  
"Who are you sitting with?" Rick asked.  
"Kate."  
"Lanie, if you haven't noticed, she isn't my biggest fan."  
"Fine, sit with Megan. and never patch things up with Kate." Lanie said, starting to walk off.  
"Lanie, wait. Please wait…" Rick pleaded.  
"I'll ask again, do you want to swap?" Lanie said folding her arms.  
"Yes."  
"Fine, but you own me big time." Lanie growled.  
"Thank you so much, Lanie."

Later, back at the Beckett house, Kate and Lanie were helping Kate pack her clothes for the trip. The pickings were slim, because Kate didn't have much tat would accommodate her slowly increating form.  
"Lanie, a crowed bus is not the time to tell someone that you are carrying their baby." Kate said madly. Putting her clothes in the suitcase.  
"Talk to him on the bus, and patch things up, and THEN you can tell him about the baby."  
Lanie paused, and then added. "Have you told your parents yet?"  
"After the trip." Kate muttered.  
"Okay fine, but they are going to notice soon, especially when they notice two jumpers in your suitcase.""  
"I need more baggy clothing."  
"Girl, you need maternity clothes."  
"How much will they cost?"  
"Well, they're not cheap. Maybe my sister has some."  
"Okay let's go see your sister."

"Did you get some new clothes?" Johanna asked as she was putting away her daughters clothing.  
"Yeah, I saw it on a TV show and realized I've always wanted a baggy jumper."  
"Where did you get it, sweetie? It looks more like a maternity jumper to me." Johanna thought that her suspicions might be right, when Kate replied.  
"Why would I need maternity clothes, mom?"  
"Katherine Beckett, I won't have you lying to me." Johanna raised her voice.  
"I'm sorry, Mom." Kate said breaking out into tears. Johanna walked over and hugged her and rubbed her back "It's okay baby girl." Johanna smoothed her. "Okay Katie, We need to go see a doctor." Johanna said.  
"No." Kate said panicked. "You're not taking my baby."  
"I'm not going to take the baby away. We just need to know if the baby is safe and healthy."

On Friday morning, they were all lined up to get on the bus. Megan made sure she was one of the first in line, a crafty smile on her face. She felt quite confident that she'd get her way on this trip. Rick would be hers! When they started to allow people to bard, she headed right for the seat that she and Rick would be sharing. She sat on the aisle seat, that way, he'd be up against the window with nowhere to go. Other students were filing on the bus as well. Most of the bus was full now, and Megan still didn't see Rick anywhere. 'Where was her honey-bun'? She thought to herself. Then, as other students were walking to seats behind her, someone put a carry-on bag under the seat and started to sit down.  
Megan noticed Lanie sitting down next to her. "Excuse me, what are you doing? This is where my boyfriend is sitting."  
"Honey, everyone knows he's not yours." Lanie said giving her sass.  
"Oh really! Well, lets just see about that." Megan said, getting up out of her seat. Then walking down to the front of the bus. Eying Rick in one of the aisle seats near the front, she headed right for him.  
"Have a good trip baby." Megan said in a baby voice before grabbing his face to kiss him making sure Kate was looking. Rick tried to turn away, but she had grabbed his head and couldn't avoid it. "Try not to miss me too much. I'll see you at lunch." Megan said running her fingers through his hair.  
"Uh uh uh okay." Rick struggled to say.  
"You're so shy around me. It's really cute." Megan said in a high pitch voice.  
Megan than walked back to her seat. Rick looked over at Kate who was curled up in her seat looking outside the window. She was trying not to cry he noticed but she couldn't help but let a tear down her face.  
He also noticed that she looked cold. He decided to give her the blanket that was on his lap. Rick tapped on her shoulder and she looked at him frostily.  
"You look cold." Rick said, handing her the blanket.  
"Thank you." She said in a neutral voice. But Kate took the blanket anyway.  
"You can use my shoulder as a pillow, if you get sick of the window."  
"I'll be fine; Megan doesn't want me to have my head on her baby's shoulder." Kate said grimly, and then still facing out the window, she slowly fell asleep.

Rick noticed when they stopped for lunch. Kate hardly ate a thing. When they got back on the bus, he thought he'd ask her about it.  
"I noticed you had hardly ate anything for lunch, Are you okay? Do you feel sick? Do you need a bucket to throw up, or some medicine?" Rick asked.  
"Rick, I'm not in the mod to play 20 questions, so back off." Kate snapped.  
"Sorry." Rick said, indeed backing off.  
Kate pulled the blanket up and went back to sleep.

When they reached the camp they had dinner almost right away. Rick was forced to sit with Megan who was running her fingers through his hair, moving to either kiss him or whisper things in his ear. He wouldn't have sat here but the eating room was so full, that there was no where to sit, and he really couldn't eat a meal while holding a tray with one hand.  
Right now, she was tracing her fingers up and down her arm. But all he could focus on was Kate who kept going to the bathroom.  
"You know Ricky, I got a private room it's a double bed maybe you could come over." Megan whispered in his ear. He saw that Kate was going to the bathroom again. Rick was sick and tired of all of all of this. He put his fork down and got up. When Rick stood up, he raised his voice, good and loud, so that everyone would hear.  
"MEGAN! WHEN WILL YOU GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD, I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH YOU. NOT EVER! YOU'VE ALREADY BROKEN KATE AND ME UP. AND NOW SHE HATES ME, SO JUST BACK OFF! AND I'M NOT YOUR BABY, SO STOP CALLING ME BABY!" Rick then stormed off, while Megan was left with a room full of people looking at her, some making comments to each other was they watched her.  
Rick hurried to the bathroom. When he got there, he heard Kate starting to heave. He got over to the stall she was in, reached over, and gently pulled her hair back behind her.  
"What's the matter with you, Kate?" He said sounding worried.

When the nurse got to Lanie and Kate's room. Rick was in the room making sure Kate was okay. "Miss Beckett do you know that you're pregnant?"  
"Yes." Kate said.  
"Well, get a lot of sleep and I'll come see you in the morning." The nurse said, walking out.  
"This isn't how I wanted to tell you." Kate looked over at Rick.  
"How was I going to find out?"  
"I don't know. I was still figuring that out."  
"Are you keeping the baby?" Rick asked, trepidation in his voice.  
"I want to keep it. But I'm so young, Rick." Kate said.  
"I'll raise the baby then, if you feel you're not old enough…"  
"I haven't decided, I would love to keep the baby, but will we be giving it the best chance if it's with us?" Kate asked.  
"I don't want to be giving my baby to someone else to be raised. To be my kids father. I don't want to upset you, Kate. Or stress you out, so let's talk about it later and you can just sleep okay?"  
"Okay."  
"Can I lay down next to you and feel the baby?" Rick asked.  
"There isn't much of a bump their, but sure." Kate said, lying on her side.  
Rick crawled next to her and felt the little baby bump. And fell in love with it right away.  
When Kate was half asleep. She moved his arm up and closer to her.  
And then she mumbled. "I love you."


	23. Chapter 23

**To my readers. I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. This fandom is getting out of control with its Kate bashing. Why does Castle get to be treated like he is perfect but Kate has to be treated like dirt. I'm just sick of this fandom this fandom is getting worst then the law and order Svu fandom.**

After the camp was finished, they all headed home. She hadn't talked to her Mom yet about her and Rick. The next weekend, Kate woke up, and remembered the plans she had. It was not quite so easy waking up. She wanted to sleep longer, and feel better. It definitely seemed that she needed more sleep. When she got up, she rummaged through her closet to find a nice outfit. "I need to find something that Rick will enjoy seeing me in, and that will work for today's event." Finally, after completing her morning preperations, she headed down stairs. She could hear her mom in the kitchen. "Hi, Mom! Good morning."  
"You look nice, sweetie. Where are you going?" Johanna asked as Kate walked down the stairs with a peach dress on which didn't show off her 'bump' very much.  
"Ricks Auntie, is getting married and I'm his plus one."  
"So you and Rick have patched things up?"  
"Yes, I told him about the baby."  
"Good, Together or not I want my grandchild to have both parents."  
Kate went over and got a glass of milk, an apple, and made herself some oatmeal with brown sugar. As she was eating, her mom gave her a knowing smile, remembering her own days carrying Kate so long ago. Finally, Kate was finished, She had about half the apple left and was munching on that as she prepared to leave.  
"I'll be back by ten o'clock at night from the reception but the wedding starts this afternoon. In fact, he should be here in about…" She looked at her watch. "5 minutes."  
"Who's dropping you home?"  
"Rick."  
"Okay, you have fun and be safe."  
"Okay mom." Kate said kissing her moms cheek.

The wedding was nice. There were a lot of people there. Everyone was given a small bag of rice to open, and throw at them, when they came out of the dhurch. It was a lot of fun for everyone. The bride and goorm, especially. Afterwards, everyone headed for the reception hall for food and congratulating the happy couple.  
Kate spent the whole afternoon resting her head on Ricks shoulder and with Rick kissing the top of her head. Kate noticed Megan seating down at the next table, and still eyeing off Rick.  
"What's she doing here!" Kate whispered harshly.  
"She's the groom's niece."  
"If you told her off, why is she still eyeing you off?"  
"She's trying to upset you Kate, don't let her. She can't mess us up or get between us."  
She thought for moment. "Fine."

After the first dance. Megan approached Rick.  
"Ricky, dance with me?"  
"No thanks, I'm going to dance with my girlfriend." Rick said taking Kate's hand and leading her onto the dance floor, leaving an angry Megan in their dust.  
"I love you." Kate whispered in his ear.  
"I love you too, and I've got a idea?" Rick said.  
"Okay. What is it?"  
"We should get married?" He said with a slight questioning tone.  
The words made Kate's heart race and her body go numb. Did he just propose to her? Kate let go off his hand, and ran out. Megan saw this too, and grinned to herself.  
Rick ran after her. He found her sitting down on the grass at the side of the reception hall. "Why did you run off?"  
"Rick, that came out of nowhere!"  
"I've been thinking about this all day. I don't have a ring at the moment but I would buy you one."  
"But Rick, we're only 18, and we have one more year of school."  
"We're the legal age Kate and I could drop out and publish my book and you can graduate. Then, while you're at work, I can look after the baby and write."  
"What If the book doesn't get published?"  
"Kate? I thought you would have wanted this?"  
"I do but Rick we really need to think about this…"  
"Kate I don't want to think about this any longer, I already have and I'm ready."  
"When?" Kate said giving in.  
"Tomorrow." Rick said taking her hand.  
"Okay, I'll tell my parents tomorrow and you have to tell Martha and Joe."  
"Does Joe really need to come?" Rick groaned.  
"He's your brother, Rick."  
"Alright fine, but the minute he says a jerky thing, I'm kicking him out."  
"Okay let's go back in, and enjoy the rest of the wedding reception. You owe me a few more dances." Kate smiled.  
"Plus, maybe we can get some ideas for our wedding." Rick said, leading Kate back in. Megan watched as they came in and was very dismayed to see that they had apparently made up. 'I'll need to see what I can do about that!' She thought to herself.

Eventually, Rick brought Kate back to his place, to talk to his mom (and Joe, ugh!).  
"I'm glad you two made up." Martha said.  
"Me too." Kate said while Rick kissed the top of her head. "I have something to tell you mother, but you can't freak out, or get overly dramatic like you usually are." Rick said, looking to his mother.  
"You knocked her up." Joe joked. Until Martha and him saw Kate and Ricks face. "Oh my god." Martha said.  
Martha's comment made Kate rest her head on Ricks shoulder and hold his arm tightly. "Do your parents know?" Martha asked.  
"Yes." Kate said quietly.  
"Nice work, little brother." Joe said holding up his hand, with a big grin on his face. Joe looked around the table to see no one was happy with his comment. "So we're not doing high fives." Joe said putting down his hand.  
"And.." Rick started to bring up Joe's unwelcomeness.  
"And, what else is there? Are you trying to give your mother a heart attack." Martha butted in before taking a sip of champagne.  
"We're planning on getting married tomorrow." Martha had a look of surprise on her face.  
"You're both only 18, you haven't finished school, your having a baby and you;ve got no money coming in."  
"Mother I will once I get the book published."  
"You've tried twice, you'll need money during the next nine months. And beyond!"  
"Twice?" Kate whispered.  
"But there's plenty of more publisher's." Rick reassured her.


	24. Chapter 24

**WARNING **

**YOU MAY CRY. **

Our little Katie is getting married." Johanna said to Jim the next morning while her husband made her some tea to claim her nerves.  
"Don't be nervous, love," Jim said taking her shaky hand. "If anyone should be nervous, it's Katie."  
"I just don't want to see my baby girl get hurt, He's already broken her heart once."  
"But he tried everything to get her back, if he didn't love her he wouldn't have fought for her."  
"Well let's go get ready for our daughters wedding than." Johanna said with a smile as Jim kissed her hand.

"What do you mean, I'm not going? Who else is going to be the best man?" Joe said following his brother down the stairs.  
"This is a very important day to me, I'm marrying my soul mate, and I don't want you to ruin it with your big stupid mouth."  
Joe stormed off upstairs while Rick walked into the kitchen. "Richard you look like you've been attacked by wolves." Martha said when her son entered the kitchen.  
"I just woke up." Rick protested.  
"We'll have breakfast shortly; you don't want to be late to your own wedding."  
Joe stormed back in and shoved a piece of paper into Rick's chest. "My big stupid mouth, spent all night writing this for his little brother and future sister-in-law." Joe yelled at him, and then stormed back out.  
"When will you boys ever stop fighting?" Martha said to Rick.  
"Have you ever heard anything smart come out of his mouth?" Rick said to Martha.  
"Yes I actually have, Your brother is smarter then you realize, he just wants you to love and accept him. But his given up he knows that to him he will always just be the older brother who says stupid things, and so he gave up."  
Rick saw the tears drip down his mother's cheek. And realized that his and Joe's fighting hurt his mother.  
Martha cupped his cheeks. "Today two families are going to join as one. Don't make the stupid mistake of not letting your brother join in the family. You might not regret it now, but later on in life God knows what you will want or need from your brother, and then the regret will really set in. Be the good man I know that I raised." Martha let go off his cheeks and walked away.  
Rick picked up the piece of paper and read it. He put down the speech feeling like he was the one with the big stupid mouth. He took a deep breath and walked up the stairs.  
Rick knocked on the games room door. Through it, he could hear his brother reply.  
"I heard what mom said to you, but a sorry and an invite to your wedding is not going to fix it. You can't push me away and then decided just cause of moms speech. You wanted me in your life when Elliot or whatever his name was spreading rumors." At this point, the door opened. Joe stood there, distress on his face, and his eyes downcast.  
"I wanted to get it through people's head that my brother was a good guy, and he would never treat a girl that way. That he was a hero for saving Kate from the fire. But I just couldn't cause I couldn't convince myself he was the hero everyone claimed him as." Joe had tears slowly running down his face.  
Rick looked into Joe's eyes with as much care, concern, and sorrow as he could. "Okay, but if you change your mind, I really want my big brother at my wedding." Rick said touching his shoulder and resting his hand there.  
"I'll think about it?" was all Joe said.  
"Okay." Rick stood up and walked back to his room to get changed.

Rick was fixing his tie in the mirror when he heard Joe's voice. "You should wear a dark blue tie instead of a black tie."  
Joe walked towards him and took off the black tie Rick was wearing. Then he held up his dark blue tie. Rick saw Joe dressed up in his suit. Rick put on the blue tie, keeping a grateful eye on his brother as he did so.  
"Don't thank me just yet; you have a lot of fixing to do." Joe told him firmly.  
"Can I thank you for the second chance?" Rick asked.  
"You welcome, don't screw it up I really want to be in my little brothers life and my niece or nephews life."  
"And I want you in my life, and my and Kate's babies life."  
"We better get to the wedding." Joe said to Rick, a small smile on his face.

"Mom it's so beautiful." Kate said as her mother finished putting on her floral headband.  
"I thought it would go nicely with your dress."  
Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's okay to be nervous." Johanna said to her.  
"Were you nervous when you married dad?"  
"I thought I was going to throw up, I had all these thoughts about things that could go wrong in our relationship, and how long will it last. But then I saw your dad waiting and smiling at me and I felt so much better and all the bad thoughts went away. At that point, all I could think about was a happy future with your father. Eighteen years, and about nine moths later and he still looks at me the same way. We're still deeply in love and we have a beautiful daughter who I hope has the same happiness with Rick."  
Johanna wiped away the tear coming down Kate's cheek.

"Would you stop that, you're making me dizzy." Joe said to Rick.  
"I'm nervous."  
"I know, but you're going to make Kate think she's making a mistake if she sees you doing that."  
"What If she's thinking that right now, what If she ditches me?" Rick said putting his hands on Joe's shoulder.  
"Yuck! I can see the sweat on your forehead." Joe said with discugst.  
"Thanks for your help." Rick said letting go off his shoulder and wiping his forehead with sleeve.  
"Darling, don't wipe your sweat onto your suit. Keep it nice for your Aunt Tessa's funeral." Martha said to Rick.  
"Tessa is not dead. Rick said to his mother.  
"She's not looking so good darling." At this point, Kate's father approached them.  
"Could I talk to you for a second?" Jim asked walking up to Rick. "Privately." He added.  
"Sure." Rick said, following Jim.  
"I couldn't help but over hear about Tessa who I'm guessing is a family member?"  
"Yeah she's my mom's first cousin."  
"Well, you will be joining her in a coffin if you hurt my daughter again." Jim threatened.  
"Mr. Beckett, you've got to know that Megan meant nothing to. It was all her, not me. Your daughter is my whole world."  
"Good to hear, son." Jim patted his shoulder and than walked off.  
Rick walked back to his mother and Joe with his face as pale as a ghost.  
"I'm going to guess he threatened you." Joe said.  
"I don't want to be buried alive." Ricks said, with a slight quiver in his voice.  
"Who knows maybe Tessa will beat you."  
"Is that supposed to be encouraging?" Rick said to his mother.

Finally, the music started playing and when the doors opened, he saw Kate. She was so beautiful in her wedding dress. Kate walked down to him on her father's arm, and Rick couldn't keep the smile off his face.  
When Jim let go of his daughters hand. Rick laced his fingers with hers. He whispered in her ear. "I love you." Kate blushed deeply.  
Vows were exchanged and promised. The Marriage Officiant was talking in the background but all Rick could focus on was his bride. At the proper time, Joe placed the two rings in the palm of his hand he picked up the ring and placed it on Kate's finger. Kate picked up the other ring and placed it on his finger.

It felt so right for that wedding band to be on his finger and he couldn't stop looking at the wedding band on her finger. How he always wanted it kept on her finger. Always.

**Next chapter our newlyweds need to find a place to call their own. No money? No problem...right? Can a certain family member help the couple?**


	25. Chapter 25

**Let me know what you think?**

After they got home from the wedding, they all met over at the Becketts, but Joe couldn't make it. Something about a job he had to do. The gathering was happy and surprising.

Johanna was speaking to Martha, mother to mother, "You know, Martha, I saw you in the play a few months ago. You played Hester Prynne in that revival of The Scarlet Letter. I must say, that you were wonderful! Such a powerful character. I enjoyed it immensely!"  
"Oh, thank you, Johanna. I really enjoyed getting my teeth into that role. Thank goodness things aren't like that anymore for kids these days."  
"Yes. I know I'd hate to have Katie branded with a letter on her chest." Johanna said with a chuckle.  
"So I understand that you and Jim are lawyers, is that right?"  
"Jim and I have a practice with a few other colleagues. Jim is into corporate law, and I'm a private defense attorney."  
"I must say that it sounds very busy for you."  
"Oh, I don't know. A lot of people talking in court, followed by reading documents all day long. It's nothing like acting in a play. Have you been doing it all your life? Or is it a more recent undertaking?"

"Well, I started in high school, and went on to Juliard's. I've been in a number of Broadway, and off-Broadway plays. It does keep one busy. But you know, I'm a bit worried about our kids. I know that Rick is trying to be a writer. He writes really well. Was your Katie planning on any kind of a job? She strikes me as a very forthright and ambitions person."  
"Yes, you're right. I will admit, sadly, that Katie has been talking about going to Stanford and becoming a lawyer like me, but now that she's not looking in that direction anymore, I don't know what she's planning on."  
"I know that Rick has applied to a number of publishers. He's waiting to hear back from them. I think he's applied to over a dozen, so far. I believe he's only heard back for two, or is it three, of them so far."

"Katie told me he had written a book for her. Even allowing for the fact that she's a little biased, I read part of it myself. It was really gripping, and makes it very hard to put down. I'd say that if anyone has a chance of getting published, he does."  
"That's very kind of you to say, Johanna. I've spoken to a few friends of mine who interact with the various publishers. I'm hoping that they can help Rick get a foot in the door."  
At this point, Rick and Kate came in, having been delayed with the paperwork for the marriage certificate and paying for the Officiant, and checking the mail back at Rick's house. Kate ran over to her mom and gave her a big hug.

"Oh, Mom! This is the best day of my life! I'm married to a perfect guy, and we're starting a family together!"  
"I'm so happy for you, Katie. I know it'll take hard work, but I'm sure that you and Rick can make things work."  
At this point, Martha spoke up. "Congratulations, Katherine. Welcome to the family. I know that you and Rick will do well together, and have a long and happy life."  
Martha spoke up dramatically. "When Love speaks, the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony."  
Kate was a bit surprised. "Mrs. Rogers? That was beautiful. Was that Shakespeare?"  
"Yes, my dear. It is from Love's Labour Lost. I thought it appropriate, considering your feelings. It is my fondest hope for you to keep those thoughts deep in your heart. Always."

Kate leaned over and hugged Martha, too. "Thank you so much! It's amazing that in one day, I can go from having one great mother, to having two!"  
"I'm so glad for you Katie. I do have one concern though. You're looking a bit pale. Have you eaten recently? I know you had a bagel for breakfast this morning, but have you eaten anything else?"

"Um, no. But I admit, I could definitely eat a cow. Do we have anything I can munch on?"  
"Absolutely!" Johanna raised her voice for them all. "Could we all adjourn to the kitchen? I have sandwiches and sides for us all."  
They all headed into the kitchen and sat down. Rick and Kate sat at one side of the table, Jim and Johanna sat across from them, and Martha sat on the side.  
As they were eating, Jim continued the conversation he'd been having with Rick. "So, Rick, what were you saying about the mail you were talking about?"  
"I gotta tell you, Mr Beckett, I'm very pleased to tell you this. And with Katie here, it makes it perfect." With a flair for the dramatic, that he must have gotten from his mother, Rick flicked an envelope out of the inside pocket of his jacket. "Ladies, and Gentleman. What I have her was sitting quite safely and serenely in our mailbox at home. But now, I reveal it for all to see." Rick opened the envelope again, and showed it to the people around him. At the top of the paper, was a logo that looked like a black chess pawn. "What you see here, is a response from the Black Pawn Publishing Company. It is an offer for them to publish my book, and if it does well, they'll want me to write at least two more!"

Kate was first to respond. "Oh, Rick! That's fabulous! I knew you could do it. I knew you had it in you!" And after that enthusiastic comment, she gave him a big, passionate kiss. Which lasted over two minutes.  
Finally, Jim was getting a little embarrassed, especially when Kate's tongue went down Rick's throat. "Er-erm"  
Rick and Kate stopped, both of them blushing. Jim continued. "Rick? Could I possibly see the letter?"  
After Jim read it all, he said. "Rick, according to this, they will be wanting you to come in so they can talk to you, and you'll need to sign the contract with them. Have they told you what will be in the contract?"  
"Um, no, they haven't. But I'm sure it should all be okay, right?"  
"Well… If you don't mind, could I come with you? I do work in corporate law, and contracts are a specialty of mine. You are my son-in-law, so it would only be good business practice to make sure you get the best deal possible."  
"Oh, wow. Yes, that would be great. They have an appointment with me this coming Friday. That's in five days. Can you take time off work then?"  
"That won't be a problem, son. Let me know when you're heading over, and I'll be there with you, okay?"

"Thanks, Mr. Beckett, uh, Sir, um, Dad?"  
"Don't worry about it, Rick. Dad or Jim will be just fine."  
They spent the rest of the lunch talking about the possibilities and consequences of the book-publishing contract. After another hour, the Beckett's phone rang, and Johanna picked it up.  
"Hello, Beckett residence… Yes, that's me…. Sure, I can tell them… Okay, thanks. Bye."  
Johanna sat back down. "Well, your contract isn't the only surprise you have today."  
"Who was it, Jo?" Jim asked.  
"That was Joe, Rick's brother. He wanted me to tell you that he would like Rick and Kate to come by there when you can. He says he has something to show you."  
Kate asked Rick. "What do you think he wants to show us? He was acting kind of cagey during the ceremony."

"I'm not sure, Kate. But Joe and I seem to have buried the hatchet earlier today, so maybe it'll be a nice surprise. Mother? Do you need us here for anything more?"  
"No, dear. You run along home, and find out what Joe's got setup for you."  
"Mom, Dad, do you mind if we leave?" Kate asked, pleadingly.  
Johanna looked over at Jim with a smirk. He nodded at her. She spoke. "Okay, Kaatie. Give us a call later today, and we'll see about getting some ideas for you and Rick, alright?"  
"You bet, Mom. See you later!" And Kate and Rick hurried out of the house.  
Martha had a smile on her face. "If they can keep that level of happiness and confidence in things, they'll have a long and loving life together. You two raised a fine daughter. I'm so glad that they found each other."  
"Jim and I feel the same way, Martha. I guess I'll just clean up here, and I hope we'll get together again, soon."  
"I'm sure we will. Let me help you with the tidying up."

When Rick and Kate got to his house, they went inside, but they couldn't find Joe anywhere. "Where could he be, Rick?"  
"I don't know. I think they only place I didn't look was in the garage. But what he'd be doing out there, I don't know."  
They walked out to the garage. It was dark, but there was light coming through a slightly open door in the rear of the garage. "That's the weight room. Why would Joe be in there? He hasn't used it in a year or two."

They walked over, and just as they got to the door, they heard Joe curse like a sailor. Rick opened the door all the way and got the shock of his life.  
"Holy cow, Joe! How did you do this?" The weight room had been transformed into a large bedroom. What used to be a dingey, sweaty room,, now looked warm and cozy. There was a desk over in the corner with Rick's Windows 95 computer on it, and there was also a larger than normal dresser in the room, too. In addition, the bed in the room was a full King-sized bed. And on top of all that, the cabinets that had been in the room for tools and gear, were now emtied out with just a rod and a few dozen hangers on it, along with shelves at the bottom for odds and ends. Or shoes. There was even a microwave, too.  
"Joe! This is amazing! Did you do this for us? I'm astounded. This had to have taken you a week to get together."

Joe, this is great! Thank you so much!" said Kate as she ran over and gave him a big hug.  
Joe was kind of embarrassed by the hug. "I got a couple of my friends to help me, once we heard about the wedding yesterday. They helped move the furniture in, and the unnecessary stuff out while we were at the wedding. Then afterwards, I got everything nice for you two. As you can see, there is a bathroom here, but there's no bath or shower. You'll need to go into the house for that part. I'm not sure, but I hope there's enough room for your clothes in the drawers and on the hangers. I figgered that a newly married couple deserves to have a place of their own, and since I hadn't used this room in quite a while, I thought it was perfect for you guys."  
Rick looked at Joe, he had a look of surprise, happiness, and pride on his face. "Joe, I just want to tell you, that if I had a choice of who my brother would be, you are my choice, every time. Thank you so much. Kate and I are so impressed by what you've done. Thank you."

Joe lowed his gaze, in shyness. He'd never had Rick talk to him that way before. Rick had always been the annoying little kid brother. Always wanting to hang around him and his friends. And everytime, Joe would give him a hard time for not being grown up to be with him and his friends. And yet. Now he wasn't a little kid anymore. Rick had made the effort to do right by Joe. He'd paid his respects to Joe, and now it was the right thing to do.  
"Anything for my little brother." And Joe came over and gave Rick a big back-thumping hug.

Time Jump to 11 weeks into pregnancy ***************  
Kate was feeling nervous. Rick had been working furiously over the last few weeks, getting his next book ready for Black Pawn. He was motivated because if he wasn't ready and earning enough money for them, they'd have a tough road ahead of them. But today she was nervous because it was her scheduled dating ultrasound. If everything turned out alright, they'd be able to make sure the baby was healthy, and growing properly. She was told not to expect it, but she still wondered if they might find out the gender.. They'd get an ultrasound picture of it too. Rick took the day off school like she did, and they headed for the clinic.

"Kate, don't worry. Everything will be fine. You've talked with your mom, and mine. You know what to expect. It's a big deal, but I think we're going to be fine. All three of us."  
"I know, Rick. It's just that this is so important to us. I hope there are no problems. No surprises. I want everything to go exactly on schedule, with no problems."  
"It's alright, Kate. I'm sure that the puppies will be fine, and you won't have anything to worry about." He joked with a smile.

"If we're having puppies, I'm wondering just who the father is, because if it was you, I'd have a jackass for a baby!". She said this very seriously, but with a smile at the end.  
Finally, the nurse called "Kate Beckett? Room 3."  
Rick and Kate hesitantly got up and walked down the hall to room 3. It was as if they were going to their execution. When they got in there, an aide helped Kate get ready for the procedure. Just as the completed it, the doctor came in the room. She introduced herself.  
"Hi, I'm Doctor Foster. I understand you're having your dating ultrasound today, right?"  
"Uh, yes! I hope everything will be okay. I really want my baby to be healthy."  
"Well, that's what I'm here for. Let's get this show on the road." The doctor smeared some gel on Kate's stomach, and lightly pressed the ultrasound probe against it. She moved it around a bit and then.

"Ah, there we are. Let's see what we've go here." Rick and Kate focused on what she was saying. Rick could see the ultrasound screen, but he couldn't make out what he was seeing. It looked like a lot of fuzzy lines.  
"Hmmm. Well, Kate, from what I'm seeing here, everything looks good. They are both of a proper size, so they're growing at the right rate. I'd say that all looks good for now, but we'll need to reschedule for your next ultrasound in about, oh, eight more weeks. Okay?"  
Neither Kate, nor Rick responded. Dr Foster looked up at them, and, if she had to describe it, they both had a deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces. After about 30 seconds, Kate found her voice first.

"Both? There's two of them? Did you say 'both'?"  
"Yes, you're having twins. We can't tell yet if they are identical or fraternal, but you've got two of them in there. Contragtulations! I'm printing a picture out of them for you to take with you."  
Rick could only say. "Uh, what… how… twins? Um." And then a huge smile appeared on his face. "Kate! We're having twins! This is great! Wait until we tell our folks! Wow!"

*************** Time Jump to 19 weeks into pregnancy ***************  
Kate was less nervous this time when they went back. Both of their families had been ecstatic when they'd heard the news. Apparently, twins were common in her family. "I guess that explains Aunt Theresa and Aunt Betty" she thought to herself. This time, when the nurse called her name, she and Rick went in, more confidently than before. Kate was more able to help the aide get her ready for the procedure. After a minute or two later, Dr Faster came in again.  
"Hi, Kate. It's good to see you again. Have you been taking those pre-natal vitamins we recommended for you?"  
Kate nodded.

"Good. So, let's find out how you two little munchkins are doing." Again, the gel was smeared, and the probe was used to examine her. "Ah, there they are. Let's see. Okay, from their size, they're right on schedule for the growth of twins. Now, lets see if we can find out if you're having girls, boys, or a mix." The doctor had to aim the probe precisely, looking from one, to another. "Okay, so, baby number 1 is a … a girl!"  
Kate was surprised and happy. "We're going to have a daughter, Rick!"  
After a bit more the probe around, the doctor spoke again. "And baby number 2 is… also a girl! Rick, you're going to be beating the boys off with a stick!" she said with a smirk.  
"Kate, that 's amazing! We're going to have two daughters. They're both going to be as beautiful and as smart as you!" He leaned over and gave her a brief kiss. 'Thank you, Kate. I love you."

*************** Time Jump to 36 weeks into pregnancy ***************  
Rick was her rock. Whatever she needed, he got for her. If she needed a massage to her shoulders, or her feet. She got it. If she craved certain foods, he got it for her. Whatever she needed became available. If she was feeling down because of her weight gain, or her visual size, Rick was always there to support here, and to lighten her spirits. Somehow, he was able to do all this, even though he had finished the second book for Black Pawn and had started on the third. The Heat series was received well. Her dad had been able to renegotiate Rick's contract, so that he was paid more for his books. The first book had been released about three months ago, and the second is due for release in 2 more months. They had wanted him to do a short book tour to promote the second book, but he didn't want to until after their girls were born.  
School had been difficult at times. She had gotten a lot of nasty comments from boys, and a lot of shaming from girls. But Rick had always been there to defend her and to bring her up again. She'd had a chance to talk to the other two girls that were pregnant at school. Although it was true that neither of them were having twins, she was able to get tips on how to dress comfortably and what things to get that would help her once they were born. Both of the other girls had given birth, so they were a constant source of trials, tribulations, and help for her.  
But now, Kate had started to feel Braxton-Hicks pains about a week or so ago. After a frntic call to the clinic, they were assured that it was normal, but to watch for when they became more frequent and intense. Well, now they were DEFINITELY more frequent and intense. "Rick! I really think it's time!"

Rick came over to her and asked, "How often are they happening?"  
"Well, two things. First, my contractions are about 12 minutes apart."  
Rick asked. "And the second?"  
"My water broke. I think we need to head out."  
Got it. Let me put your go bag into the car, and I'll be right back to help you in. And don't worry, I'll call Dr Foster so that she can meet us at the hospital."  
Rick was back in less than 60 seconds. He gently helped Kate up and over to the car. Just as they got to it, Kate grunted. "Ohhhhhh"  
Rick looked at her, with worry on his face. "Was that another contraction?"  
"Yep, that one was only about 10 minutes since the last one."  
Rick helped her into the car, and although he wanted to drive like a crazy man, he knew he had to keep Kate safe and comfortable. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic, so they weren't held up. He drove them right to the emergency entrance, and assited Kate inside.  
"Nurse!" Rick called out. A nurse headed over to him. "My wife is in labor. She's having contractions about 10 minutes apart. She had another one on the ride over here. Can you let Dr Foster know that we're here?"  
The nurse put Kate in a wheelchair and headed for a birthing room, and Rick stayed behind to fill out the paperwork.  
Rick watched as Kate vanished from his sight. He hoped that everything was okay and that the doctor would get there soon.

**the reason for the time jumps is cause I'm wrapping this story up soon and releasing a sequal for the story **


	26. Chapter 26

**Me and Frank (Beta) have a confession to make we are not doctors I had play doctors kit when I was six but I don't think that is also the third last chapter. So the squeal may take a month or two to write but while your waiting for the squeal there will be a one shot story collection of Kate and Rick raising the twins. Please leave your thoughts.**

While Rick was waiting for the doctor, he called his and Kate's parents. Then he called Lanie and asked her to let Espo, Ryan, and Jenny know. That took about ten minutes.

Just then, Dr. Foster came into the Birth Center. She went straight to the front desk and got the information for where Kate was. Rick saw her and followed her to Kate.

The doctor came into the room to find Kate with a nurse helping her to be ready. "Hi, Kate! Getting to be that time, Hmm?."

"Yeah, I guess they're determined to be out here with their daddy, too. And from the way I feel, I'll be very happy when that occurs!"

"Well, don't worry, Kate. That's why we did your last ultrasound two weeks ago. As you know, we were able to confirm that they are not identical twins but were fraternal. That's good for you because there are fewer problems for them." The doctor turned her attention to the nurse. "Sally, what is the dilation at?"

"She's at just about three centimeters. We're close to finishing up the Latent Phase."

"And how far apart are the contractions?"

"We seem to have gotten down to eight minutes apart."

"Kate, since they are not identical, do you still want to do the vaginal birth? Or do you want a cesarean?"

Kate looked up at Rick who had walked over and was holding her hand. He smiled at her and said. "This is all about your comfort and the babies. It's whatever you want, babe."

Kate smiled back at him. "I'd prefer vaginal, Dr Foster."

"That's fine Kate. How is your pain level?"

"It's only difficult on the contractions, but even then, it's tolerable."

"Okay, that's expected. I assume that you'll want an epidural at the appropriate time?"

"You bet. I don't think I can do this without it."

"All right. For the time being, we need to get you through the phases and up to ten centimeters. Sally will be here for you. If you need anything, let her know. I need to make a few preparations and I'll be checking in on you as you proceed. Rick? Am I correct in assuming you'd like to be here during birth?"

"Absolutely! This is my wife and our kids. I'm here for all of my girls, no matter what." He said defiantly with a grin.

"Alright. Kate, I'll see you in about 15 minutes." And the doctor signed some papers and left.

Rick turned to Kate and asked. "Kate, do you need anything? Water or something?"

"Yes. Could I get some water please, Sally?" Sally smiled at her and was back in a couple minutes with a cup for her.

Kate was taking a sip when the next contraction hit. Rick frantically grabbed the cup for her and held her hand as it passed through her. "That was a little quicker, Kate. Just under seven minutes." Sally informed her.

After a moment, Kate took the cup back from Rick and finished drinking the small amount of water. "I sure hope this doesn't take all night. I might be in good shape, but this really takes it out of you."

Rick just waited with her, holding her hand. He used his handkerchief to wipe away any perspiration on her forehead and face. Finally, after another contraction, the doctor came back in.

"Okay, Kate. I have things ready for when we need the epidural. Have you had, what, two more contractions since I left?"

"Mm-hmm," Kate said between gritted teeth.

"And, she just enlarged to above 3 cm," Sally added.

"Well, Kate, you definitely waited a bit before you came in. You're progressing nicely. Forgive me, but I don't want to make any kind of estimate yet of how long, but if the past is an indicator of the future, I'm hopeful for you." Dr. Foster said to her.

"Sally, you have my pager. Notify me if any problems occur, or when she gets to 9 cm, whichever comes first. I'll be checking on another patient as well." At this, the doctor looked Kate straight in the eye. "But don't worry, I will be here for the grand opening, don't you worry." And she turned and headed out again.

After about 15 minutes more, there were a number of voices outside in the hallway. As familiar as they were, they seemed to be getting much louder than normal talking levels. Just before they got to shout levels, Sally adjusts the sheet covering Kate so as to block the view of her lower body.. Just then, Johanna came around the corner and into the room. She paused in the doorway and over at Kate. "Katie, is it okay if I come in?"

Kate looked at her and gave her a big smile. "Sure thing, mom. Come around to my other side. That way I can hold your hand as well as Rick's."

"Oh, Katie. It's such an important moment. Your father and I are so proud of you!" She looked up and around. "Where is he? Rick? Could you go and help Jim? He's probably in the gift shop, or somewhere. Please help him out?"

Rick was a bit flabbergasted. First, he wanted to stay by Kate's side. Still, he knew she had a ways to go yet. Maybe it'll give Kate a chance to ask her mom about stuff that her mom has personal information about. He squelched down any dismay and smiled at Kate and her mom." I"'ll just be a few minutes." He walked to the doorway, and with a last lingering look at Kate, he slipped away. Rick headed for the front area. At first, he didn't see Jim anywhere. But then, listening, he heard Jim's voice.

Jim was saying, "What do you mean, you don't have purple?"

Rick smiled and headed for the gift shop. When he went in, Jim was apparently arguing over the color of flowers they had there. Most seemed to be red, white, and yellow. However, after Jim insisted to the clerk that he needed purple flowers for her daughter and her babies, the clerk went in the back and returned with a small array of purple and violet flowers. The clerk explained that "Sorry, we don't get much purple in the summertime. Will one of these do?"

Jim looked them over and said "I'll take the biggest." He paid, and he and Rick walked out. As they were walking thru the entry area, Martha and Joe came in, each carrying a gift. Two small pink bears from Martha, and some candy from Joe. They all walked together back to Kate's room. When they got there, Rick went in ahead of them and went straight to Kate's side. He grabbed her hand because he saw she was undergoing a contraction. Fortunately, it was over soon.

Rick wiped Kate's face again. "Thanks, babe," she said as she gave him a tired smile.

At this point, Martha made her presence known. "Hello, Katherine. I want you to know that we are all here for you, and even though we might not all be able to cram into this room, we'll be waiting for the glorious moment to be upon us!" She said with her normal dramatic flourish.

"Thanks, Martha. I don't know how long this is going to last, but I thank you all for being here with Rick and me."

Jim and Joe also got their good wishes in for her. After that, Jim said. "Why don't we wait out in the waiting room for Kate to get thru this, and Rick will tell us when they are ready, okay?" The others agreed, and they headed out. Jim did take the time to wave the flowers a bit as Kate saw him walk out of sight, causing her to smile at the beautiful bouquet.

After that, it became a waiting game. An hour went by, 5 cm. Another hour, 6 cm. One more hour, 8 cm. Finally, almost two hours after that, Sally paged the doctor. When the doctor arrived she told her "She's just past 9 cm."

Dr. Foster smiled. "I'm thinking the epidural will be soon." The last centimeter took another hour. Just as it got there, they gave it to her, and shortly afterward, her labor began. Kate was pushing like the doctor told her. Things took a while, but finally, "The head is crowning!" Another hard push by Kate helped get baby #1 out and they quickly had Rick cut the cord and they took the baby to check it, clean it and swaddle it in a blanket.

It only took about 4 more minutes for baby #2 to make her appearance. Again, it took one final push to help her make her way into the world. Again, Rick did the honors, and again the baby was whisked away for health checking, cleaning, and swaddling.

Shortly, when they were completing the tasks, Joe had gotten curious, and though he was saying he needed to use the restroom, he had instead crept back to look into the window in the door. Just at that moment, Kate expelled the placentas. Joe's eyes opened so wide, it was almost like a cartoon character with his eyes nearly popping out. He turned to head back to the waiting family members and he fainted dead away, totally sprawled out in the middle of the hallway.

Moments later, the nurse came back to them. She asked. "What names will they each have for us to put on their medical charts?"

Rick happily smiled down to Kate and gave her a brief nod. Kate said. Baby #1 will be called Alexis Rogers, and baby #2 will be Lacey Rogers." Kate spelled the names for the nurse so that she'd have it correct.

Rick looked at her with such love in his eyes. "Kate Rogers, Alexis Rogers, and Lacey Rogers. The smart and lovely Rogers women. How could any man get so lucky." He said quietly to Kate. He then gave her a brief, chaste kiss.

Just then, Sally and another nurse brought the two babies back to Kate. "Would you like to hold your daughters?"

Whey they agreed, they gave Alexis to Kate and Lacey to Rick. Because of their practicing, they each held the baby just right, and both babies were sleeping in their arms. Kate was fascinated with Alexis. Just at that moment, Alexis yawned and snuggled more closely into Kate's arms. Kate had been trying to hold back the tears before, but now they let loose and tears were dripping down her cheeks and onto the blanket for Alexis.

Rick noticed and asked. "Kate? Is everything okay? What's wrong?"

Kate looked up at him and said. "Sorry about that. These are just my tears of joy. We're starting out family, and I'm just so happy now. I just feel such an intense feeling of love for her as I hold her in my arms. She's… perfect."

Rick came close to Kate and leaned over to kiss her temple. "I can't believe it either. They both seem to have my eyes. They're both a very pale blue."

"Don't forget Rick, that's just the color at birth. It'll change eventually. What's more interesting to me is that Lacey has my hair color. My mom has shown me pictures of me at birth. But Alexis has got what looks like red hair. Why is that? You're not red haired?" She paused. "Or else I slept with someone else?" She said with a teasing smile.

"Oh, don't worry, that's just the curse of my mother. Her red hair seems to have chosen to make an appearance. That's good, that way we can easily tell them apart so that we don't change the same diaper twice." He said with a smirk.

Kate turned to Sally and asked. "Sally? Can you please tell our families that we're ready now?" Sally smiled and headed out. But she stumbled over the body of Joe on the floor. Sally did a quick check of his vital stats and called for a nurse's assistant to help her get him up and into a wheelchair.

"Sir? Are you okay?" She looked into his eyes and finally saw a level of recognition. "Sir? Will you be okay if I leave you sitting here?" Joe nodded groggily at her. After making sure he wasn't going to slump forward or fall off the chair, she headed for the waiting room. "Katherine Rogers's family?"

Jim, Johanna, and Martha got up. Martha asked. "I wonder where Joe has gotten to? I hope he's not hitting on the nurses in here. I don't think they're that interested in video game playing high school graduates."

Johanna calmed her. "Don't worry, Martha. I'm sure he'll turn up." All three of them headed to Kate's room. When they got to the door, Martha saw Joe in a wheelchair, sitting slack-jawed near the door. "Oh well, kiddo. I guess you got an eye full." Martha quipped. Johanna opened the door and the other two adults joined her.

"Hey, mom. Look who we have here!" Kate said joyfully. Immediately, both grandmothers asked for and got a little bundle of joy to hold and praise. At first, Jim headed over to his daughter and gave her a gentle hug, and laid the purple flowers on her lap.

"I'm so happy for you, Katie-bug. I hope your two girls are as much a joy for you as you've been for us. Both of the girls look so precious." He leaned over and gave Kate a kiss on her cheek. Then, Jim walked up to Rick and said. "Rick, my boy. Congratulations. I think you've got a good start on fatherhood." Jim shook Rick's hand. "I understand you've been holding off on using your book money until after Katie was born so that you'd be near family. Have you given any thought for where you're going to live?"

"Well, Mr…. um, Dad, I was looking around the mid-town area, or maybe closer to the southern end. Kate and I like the city, and we want to take advantage of everything the city has to offer. With the money from the first two books, we can easily afford a nice place. To be honest, I think I'd like some advice in looking for a place to stay. Do you think that the five of us could sit down one evening and brainstorm some ideas?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, son. We need to give you and Kate a chance to at least start getting settled before you move, but maybe next weekend? You could come over to my place and Johanna will be able to have the girls around our house. I know that she, and I, would like that. I'm sure that there will be times when you'll come and visit, and I want them to be comfortable there."

"Thanks, Dad. The deal you helped me make with them is working out really well. We should be able to afford a nice place, and with my writing, I'll be home nearly all the time. In the meantime, I've got all the basics we'll need, and since we both graduated last month, we have all the time we need. Kate will be for a good bit as well, but I know she wants's go get her own job. She says she's got an idea from talking with Javi and Kevin."

""After we have the twins past the breastfeeding and when they're maybe a year old, I intend to get myself into shape for the NYPD. I think I'd like to be a Detective." Kate replied with a smile.

Jim was stunned. Martha and Johanna paused and looked at Kate. Her mom spoke first. "Katie? A Police Officer?" Johanna asked her daughter shocked.


	27. Chapter 27

Kate's time in the hospital passed fast enough. Right after the congratulations from everyone, all of them but Rick had to leave the room so that Kate could breastfeed them. Her mom had explained the process, and she wanted to do breastfeeding, not bottle feeding unless there was no other option. The aide assisted in swapping babies for her, and soon, both of the girls were resting comfortably, tired but full.

She and Rick had their daughters around them for most of the following day. The twins had been born at 1:28 AM and 1:36 AM. Kate needed a nap badly after they were born, so after she fell asleep, Johanna, Jim, Martha, and Joe had left. They had planned on coming back in the afternoon with baby needs. Kate slept until roughly 5 AM. She had to breastfeed again and afterward got another nap until 9 AM. By that point, they were all up and fascinated by Alexis and Lacey.

"You know, Rick, I'm glad we stayed at your mom's place throughout the pregnancy. It made it so much easier than having to get adapted into a new place when something could have gone wrong. Having Martha on hand saved the day a few times."

"I know. But we need to get our lives together and see about finding us our own place to live at. I know I'm not super-rich, but we can afford a nice place now. As long as I'm able to keep writing the books, we'll be good to go, and we can make life the way that we want."

/

Late that afternoon, after verifying that the two girls were verified to be healthy and ready to move home, the families stopped by, and they had all headed back to Martha's place. When they arrived there, Kate was led into the main house with everyone else; while Rick took Kate's go bag back to their room, He set the flowers that Kate had gotten from her dad up in a vase on their dresser, along with the extra things they'd been given. When he got there, he got a nice surprise. "I'm going to have to thank Joe for that." He thought. He then headed back to the main house.

When he entered, he saw Kate sitting by herself on the couch, and both of their daughters were safely in the hands of their grandmothers. Johanna was talking softly to Lacey, and Martha was quietly singing a show tune for Alexis. Jim was doing something in the kitchen. Rick walked up to Joe and shook his hand. "Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate you changing the bed sheets and making the bed for us. That was a great thing you did. Thanks!"

Joe surprised Rick, he actually looked embarrassed and said. "Well, when you guys were talking about having to high-tail it to the hospital, Mom made me get you a few things, and I noticed how you'd had to leave things. I was just trying to help."

"Well, that still was very kind. Who knows, maybe if we have a boy sometimes, maybe we can call him 'Joe'?" And he gave Joe a grateful smile. Then he turned his attention to his wife.

"How are you feeling, Kate? Are you still tired? I can make you some hot chocolate if you like."

"No, that's okay. My dad already offered to make some for everybody. It's amazing that they're all here now. I'd always wished that I would have my mom with me when I had any kids. But I had two mothers with me, for the two daughters we had! It couldn't get more perfect than this." Kate was beaming a smile at him that lit the entire room.

Just at this point, Jim came in with a tray of hot chocolate for everyone. They all were able to sit back and relax with their warm drink. Kate told her dad. "The old Beckett family secret recipe, huh, Dad?"

Jim smiled at Kate and told her. "Only the best for our family!"

Just then, Alexis started fussing and crying slightly. Martha looked up at Kate. "Would you like to use my bedroom or Rick's old room? I suspect someone is hungry, again."

Kate got up and took Alexis from her. "Thanks, Martha. I'll use Rick's old room if you don't mind. Mom? If Lacey starts feeling the same way, could you bring her up to me? Oh, and Rick, I think it may be about time for diapers, too." She headed upstairs, Rick and supplies right behind her.

They were only gone about two or three minutes before Lacey started fussing too. Johanna headed for the stairs to follow where they'd taken Alexis. "Be right back! Keep my chocolate hot, Jim!"

Martha turned to Jim. "You know, Jim, I'm very impressed on how Rick and Kate had nearly everything planned out. But you know as well as I do, the sleep deprivation begins now."

Jim chuckled to himself. "You've got that right, Martha. I can't tell you how happy I am that neither one of them has a normal job yet. Rick is writing, which he can do whenever inspiration strikes and Katie still stays home for now, so they'll be able to handle the girls without any problems I hope, other than needing to sleep, that is."

Johanna came down the stairs. She walked up and received her re-heated drink from him. As they waited for Rick and Kate to come back downstairs, it got rather quiet. Jim and Martha sat there, not saying anything, just drinking their hot chocolate. Finally, unable to keep from asking, Joe stuck his foot in his mouth.

"So… babies must drink a lot of milk… breast milk, right?" he asked with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Oh, yes, kiddo." Martha replied. " A typical baby feeds maybe eight to twelve times a day, roughly."

"Um, uh… so… what does it… taste like, uh, sorta?"

There was dead silence in the room at that point. Martha gently shook her head back and forth. "Joeseph, why don't you go and make sure that all the stuff we brought Rick and Kate is brought into their room, okay?"

Joe looked down at his feet. He could feel the tension in the room. He got up, and quickly headed to the door and left, taking the car keys with him to unload the trunk.

It was Martha that broke the silence. "Forgive me, Jim, for saying this, but… That's a boy for you."

Johanna chuckled to herself and just smiled.

/

Kate and Rick were upstairs taking care of the girls. Both were hungry, but after that was done, both were making "doody" in their diapers. Once the filling up and cleaning up was done, they paused. "Well, I guess we have a lot of this to keep us busy. I guess we'll need to keep ourselves in a lot of biodegradable diapers."

"Well, actually, I'm happy that we have a good quality breast pump because, with two babies, that's a lot of breast milk to put out. My breasts might not have been very big a year ago, but at least now they're bigger. I hope I can maintain enough for them. In a worst case scenario, we might have to have bottles of formula on occasion to fill in the gaps for me." She insisted, worriedly.

"Don't worry, Kate. I'm going to be by your side for the entire thing. I might not be able to breastfeed, but I can hold a bottle when needed, I can change diapers when needed. I can buy you whatever you need. I am by your side, forever."

Kate looked up at him. She was still tired. (When would that ever end?) But she was still happy, and she smiled at him. "Should we take the girls back downstairs now? I want to see our families some more before bed."

Rick reached down and picked up Lacey. "You bet. I'm right there, with you."

Kate picked up Alexis and they headed downstairs.


	28. Chapter 28

When they got downstairs, they found Johanna and Martha having an in-depth conversation about teaching Kate how to give the twins the best technique to latch on during feeding. Jim was silently glaring at Joe, who was self-consciously drinking a beer, and looking around nervously.

"Thanks for waiting, Dad. We got the girls fed and cleaned and changed. I'm guessing that Rick and I won't be sleeping much for the next few moths." Kate said, with a wry chuckle and a roll of her eyes.

: That's okay, Katie-bug. Just think of it as double revenge for what you put your mother and I through when you were younger." He said with a mischievous smile.

"Oh, Katie, please give me little Lacey? She is so cute. Maybe if we talk quietly, she'll fall asleep for us." Johanna asked. "By the way, did you know that Doctor Foster is a mother of twin boys? She gave birth to them 10 years ago.

Martha was not to be outdone. "Yes, Katherine. May I please hold Alexis? I want her to grow up to be a beautiful young actress. Maybe she could be the next Ginger Rogers, Katherine Hepburn, or else Rita Hayworth?"

Both grandmothers held their little bundles of joy warmly and tenderly. Despite having given birth to them less than 24 hours ago, and yet she felt lonely without them both in her arms. She looked at her mother and her mother-in-law with a bittersweet smile and just reminded herself that they'd be her daughters for her whole life. Nobody could take that away from her. She turned to Rick and hugged him. Rick looked down at her, thinking something might be wrong.

"Is everything alright, Kate? Do you need anything? What can I do for you? I can give you a backrub if you like." Rick rambled on, not stopping.

"No, that's alright, Babe. I'm just so glad we have our girls." Then Kate lowered her voice to a whisper. "I just feel empty without them both near me. I miss them both." Kate nuzzled into Rick's chest, kissing it briefly.

Rick hugged her tightly. He knew they'd be waking up at all hours. Thank heavens he didn't need to leave her to go to work or anything like that. He wanted to be there with her and the girls for everything. But he figured that Kate was also feeling tired, so he asked. "Do you want to head over to our room and crash?"

Kate paused for a moment. "No, not yet. We'll stay here for maybe 15 more minutes. But then we'll head back to our flat with the girls. Could you go and get the crib ready for them? I have it currently folded up at the foot of the bed. There aren't a lot of rooms, but it should fit next to my side of the bed for when they wake us up at night."

With that, Rick leaned down and kissed Kate with a brief, passion-filled kiss, and headed out to their room. "Be back in a minute, everybody!" He called out quietly.

Kate sat down next to her dad and grabbed his hand in both of her hands. She asked him questions about how she was when she was a baby. "What do you remember most about my first year, Dad?"

"I guess the thing I remember most is that you ate so much! Your mom breastfed you, and even when you moved up to baby food, you wouldn't stop eating what we gave you. And now look at you. You're taller than most of the girls in your grade, and you do so many sports in school. You're an Energizer bunny!"

"Yeah, I guess it's true. If Alexis and Lacey are like me, they'll be doing track and soccer, and tiring Rick and I out before noon every day! I remember all those times we went up to the cabin each summer. I loved to run to the lake and see what was there. I think for the last 3 summers, I ran around that lake each visit. And that was almost 3 miles around!"

"Don't worry, Katie-bug. You'll be doing plenty of running around with these two in your home." He joked, with a grin.

At that moment, Rick came back in. "Okay, Kate. I've got it all set up for them." Rick came over and sat next to her.

Jim was able to infer what Rick had done. He looked over at Johanna and asked. "Jo? Are you willing to release your kidnap victim back to her rightful owner, yet? Or are we going to hang onto her for a few more years?"

Johanna looked down at Lacey and said. "You are so beautiful, you little darling. I hope I see you all the time." Then Johanna looked up to her husband. "Oh, well, I guess if I really have to…" and she trailed off with a smile at Kate. She got up and walked over to Kate to hand her Lacey. "Remember, Katie, you do all the feeding and diaper changing, and I get them all the rest of the time. Fair deal?" Johanna smirked at her daughter.

"Well, Mom, I guess we'll have to see about that. Maybe if you can do *some* of the diaper changing, we might be able to work out a plan. Okay?" At this, Martha got up and approached Rick.

"Good night, sweet Princess. Parting is such sweet sorrow that we should say 'Goodbye' until the morrow" And with an overly dramatic flourish, she gently handed Alexis to Rick.

Joe looked over at Rick. "Shakespeare?" And Rick just nodded and rolled his eyes.

Kate took that opportunity to tell everyone, "We'll see you all later. I'd really like to have us find a bigger place soon, so we'll need to get together and talk about it. Maybe in a week?"

Johanna gave Kate a smile. "Sure, Katie. I'll be stopping by here tomorrow, but we can all get together tomorrow night, or the night after. You guys can decide. Come on, Jim. Time to head home and give these two a chance to get started with the exhaustion express!" Jim joined her and they gave their goodbyes to Martha, Joe, and Rick and Kate and then they headed out the door to their car.

Rick looked at his mom. "Good night, Mother. We'll see you guys tomorrow." Kate added, " Night!" and they headed to their own room.

/

In retrospect, the first night seemed the hardest because they weren't ready for the constant feedings every hour or two. Once Alexis was hungry 30 minutes after her previous feeding. Rick quipped. "I sure hope that all this feeding means they're going to be beautiful and tall and they can be the lead players on a basketball team."

Kate gave him a glare. "I just want them healthy! I'm glad you got all that nutritious food for me. At 4,000 calories a day, that's a lot of milk to make and being healthy for me means being healthy for our girls."

But during that first night of 12 hours, they got maybe 4 hours of unrestful sleep. Finally, they crawled out of bed around 8 AM and headed into the house, where the kitchen was. Joe was up and he had made a big plate of bacon for himself. Rick took one look and shook his head.

"Joe, you know I love bacon, too. But you need to eat more than just bacon. I'm going to make Kate and my breakfast. You want to have a little something to go with your pound of bacon?"

Joe picked up another floppy piece of bacon and said. "Naw, this will be good enough for me. Although I do think I might go for a tall glass of some nice, cold milk. That would be *very* satisfying."

Rick just winced and started getting Kate's breakfast ready. He made her two eggs with cheese and some oatmeal. In addition, he made her a greek yogurt smoothie with raspberries and some whole grain mixed in, plus a banana on the side. To drink, he had a big one-quart bottle of water for her to carry around and refill during the day. They knew she had to drink a lot of liquids to help her constantly replenish the milk she was generating. By this time, Kate came out from feeding the girls. Rick also knew he'd be changing diapers soon.

"Here you go, Kate. I've got your breakfast for you. I'll check their diapers in about 10 minutes." Rick then got busy making his own omelet. (He wasn't going to invent the Smor'lette for at least 5 more years.) As he finished making his food, he saw Joe with a quart of milk (which was almost a liter) that he poured into a huge glass, he was just guzzling it down. He looked like he was enjoying it, until about halfway through it. Then, he paused and looked a little uncertain. He put the big glass down and slowly walked upstairs. Nobody saw him anymore that day.

After Rick and Kate finished eating, he took care of changing the girls and brought them back to Kate, after singing to them during the changing procedure..

"You know, Babe. When I consider the size of our room now, with the two girls, I think we need to move sooner than we thought. It's really crowded in there. It was okay when it was just us, but what I'd really like is to have a bit more room to move around in. Maybe we can talk to our folks tonight. I'm hoping we can move in about three or four days. Maybe a week, at most."

Rick was thinking the same thing. "Okay, we'll talk tonight, and then tomorrow, I'll see what I can find in mid-town that we can move into. It might take most of the day, and I'm sorry about that, but the sooner we can move over, the better."

"Good. Why don't you call my dad in an hour and see if he can stop by for lunch? Maybe he can give us a few ideas."

"You bet. I'll tell him about the requirements we have. It needs to be secure, kid-friendly, easy access to getting around town, and in very good shape. Of course, as nice as it would be to live in a house, it seems to me that there will be only apartments available. Unless you want to consider moving outside the city."

"No, I know you can write anywhere, but I'd prefer to stay in town. New York has always been my home, and I'd like to keep it that way. Just don't spend too much money on where we stay, okay?"

"You got it. Let me go and call your dad now. Maybe a bit more prep time might make this move easier."

/

Just after lunch time, Jim stopped by with one of hs clients. Fortunately, they had just put the girls down for their naps. When they came in, Jim introduced everyone to everyone else. "Rick? Kate? This is a friend of mine that I do work for. His name is Jack Haas. Jack, this is my daughter, Kate, and my son-in-law, Rick."

Jack spoke first. He spoke very fast and had a Brooklyn accent. It was like listening to a fine print announcer in a radio commercial. "It's great to meet you two. Jim has told me about what you're looking for. This could work out just fine. He does legal work for my realty business, and I help people find new places to live. We match their needs to what's available. So far, your dad has told me about the basics. Security, Access to transportation, room for kids, and not too old. Did I understand that right?"

"Yes. Because of my job as a writer, I'd like to stay in the city, but I want Kate to have easy access to her needs here in the city, too. We would prefer to be relatively near to a hospital if needed, but even more importantly, it needs to be a safe neighborhood with a secure building. Maybe a 3- or 4-bedroom place with a couple bathrooms?"

"Okay," Jack replied. "I have about six or seven places around town that would work. We need to find a time for you go come and look at them. Ideally, if possible, you should *both* be there because you each of different needs in the house, over and above the common needs. When would be a good day for that? I'm available for the next 3 days if that helps."

Kate spoke up quickly. "That would be great, Mr. Baas. Between our families, I'm sure we can work something out. I couldn't leave for a full day, but if we could maybe spread it out over the two or three days, I'm sure I can manage."

Jack slapped his leg. "That's great! Here's my card. Why don't you two give me a call tomorrow morning, and I can make plans to show you two, maybe three places tomorrow, and we can see what comes up. Okay?"

"Thanks, Mr. Haas. Kate and I will call you tomorrow morning, and we'll set up a time to do this. Thank you for all your help!"

"Not a problem, Ricky. We'll get you to a nice place to live with room for your family to grow." Jack turned to Jim. "Jim? I need to head over to my office. I need to pin things down for these two. Can we talk tomorrow afternoon?"

Jim hadn't spoken, but he seemed out of breath with how fast Jack spoke. "Sure, Jack. Call me when you can. See you!" And Jack headed out as if a tiger was after him.

After he'd left, Kate looked at her dad and laughed. "Is he always that hyper? We've only been here for five minutes, and I feel like it's been an hour!"

"Yep, Jack's always been moving and shaking all his life. He's one of our main clients at the firm. I've known him for over five years, and I don't think he's slowed down even once. However, what he said goes for me too. I have to head back to the office. Your mom took the afternoon off, so she'll be here in about an hour, okay? Love you, Katie. Take care of them, Rick!" And with somewhat less speed, Jim headed out, as well.

/

The next morning, Kate and Rick were dragging themselves awake again. "Kate, I love you and the girls *so* much. But we're only two days into this. At this rate, I may fall over dead in a few days." Rick said, with a tired smirk on his face. "I know it's even tougher on you. I hope we can find our rhythm soon."

"Don't worry babe. With you as my slave, I'm sure we'll be just fine. Just feed me another grape, and keep your shirt off. I like to see your masculine chest, glistening in the sunlight. It makes me feel like Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. At least until I have to feed these two parasites that always seem to attach themselves to me." She teased, right back at him.

Rick bent over and gave her a deep and passionate kiss. He was about 30 seconds into it when…

"Waaaahhhh!".

Kate looked over, breaking the kiss. "That would be our red-headed never-full parasite. I think she needs another full tank. Since you're up, can't you breastfeed her?" Kate said, with a smile.

"You got it, Babe…. Um, Er. Kate? I seem to be missing something. Actually, I'm missing *two* somethings. I think I'll need to bow to you, and offer the red-head to you. Here you go." At that moment, there was *another* "Waaahh!" from still in the crib. "Oh well, why not double your fun. Two for the price of one!" Rick lifted Lacey out and as soon as Kate was positioned in the Clutch-Hold, he gave her Lacey, too. "I realize it's only been barely 48 hours, but you seem to be getting pretty good at this. Have you had babies before me?"

"No, you goof. I just have a good mom who taught me a lot. Rick? Sweetie? Could you please make me another one of your great breakfasts? Maybe some whole grain pancakes? With eggs and a yogurt smoothie to drink? Please? Pretty please?"

"What my Lady wishes, so shall she receive. Let me away to the kitchen place to make you your most important meal!" Rick was having a hard time saying all this because he was laughing and snorting to himself. "Me thinks I've been around my mother, too much. Can't we not kill her off?"

Kate just smiled and said, "Go!" Rick went.

/

At last, breakfast was done, and Rick had called Jack to arrange a time and place to meet at. On top of that, they agreed to have Kate and the girls come with them. Because they didn't want to use the subway or a cab with the girls, Rick rented a driver to take them around to the places today. That way they could leave some emergency baby supplies in the car so that they didn't need to carry them around to each place, and the driver made sure that the care was ready, and waiting for them when they needed them. It worked out especially well because they found that Jack had taken a taxi to the first place. After that, Jack just rode with Rick and Kate and the girls. The limo was easily big enough to hold the 3 adults, the babies, the dual stroller (folded up) and their baby stuff bag.

The first place was okay. I was a little bit showing it's age, and even though it was secure, it was only about a block away from a not-so-good neighborhood.

While they were going from the first place to the second, Jack told them about it. "You'll love it! It's up on the 20th floor. You'll have a great view of the East River."

That got Rick to thinking about where they might move eventually. The thought of living at the top of a building was very well, maybe someday.

The second place was nice, but even though it had a great view, it was rather crowded and only had two bedrooms. That might be okay now, but no in five or ten years.

They then headed for the third place that was on the west side of Manhattan. It had 4 bedrooms, 3 and a half baths, and a big living room. There was even a place where Rick could arrange some movable bookshelves to make a little office for himself. It was really nice. Second floor with elevator. Kate liked it too. There were even a two precincts nearby. The 11th, and the 12th. Both would almost be within walking distance if she got a job there.

By this time, it was time to head home. Kate had been able to feed the girls during their drives between buildings. They had put the divider up behind the driver and had Jack sit in front with him. They dropped Jack off and arranged for the next day.

Kate had endured a bit of difficulty that day. Fortunately, the windows were all darkly tinted so no one could see in. But the girls didn't like all the traveling and going in and out. "Rick? I think that maybe tomorrow we should just do two, and then two more the next day."

Rick agreed. "Yeah, I know. I saw how many problems they were giving you. Originally, I was going to try to squeeze in four or maybe five, but even three was too much. Two a day it is."

/

Eventually, they had looked over all seven places. They decided to get the third place. It was a nice neighborhood, a good price ($950,000 to buy it), and there would be plenty of room for years to come. It was at 425 Broome St, on the second floor. Of course, Rick would have preferred the top floor. But maybe in the future? Time will tell.

Rick was able to easily move their few belongings over to the new place. Fortunately, Joe had a few days to recover from his breakfast, so he was able to help Rick move his and Kate's stuff over. They also boxed up Kate and Rick's stuff from their old rooms and used a moving van to move it over. Lastly, Rick went out and bought some furniture with Kate to advise him. They were able to get everything they'd need for enjoyment, health, fitness, and some other splurges as well. Rick and kate had both started to get hooked on coffee, so Rick got them a very nice coffee maker. It seemed they now had everything they'd need. But they were ready for the future and were ready to face it together.

A few days after they'd moved in, they had a house-warming party and invited all their family and friends over. Despite that, it was a rather homey affair. Johanna had brought over a few dishes that she'd made up, and even Martha had purchased some food from a nice restaurant that she'd made arrangements with.

Jim walked around the place, admiring the layout and the items they'd bought. Even as well off as he and Joanna had been, Rick was going a little crazy with some of his stuff. So he asked him why.

"So, Katte and I were talking about things. I knew she wanted to get back in shape eventually in order to apply for the NYPD. She didn't want to be out of shape, but she also didn't want to have to be pushing a double-stroller while running. That's why I made one of the bedrooms a fitness room. I have a weights set, a treadmill, and a few other things that you saw. Plus, for our enjoyment, I purchased that flat screen TV that you saw out in the living room. It's got a 24-inch screen, which only came out last year. And I put in a nice stereo with a turntable, plus a cassette player, too. On top of that, there's a new company; Netflix, that just opened up for business.I got Kate and I a membership with them. They just invented DVD's, so we'll be able to get movies on that, as well as VHS tapes."

Rick seemed out of breath, telling all of that to Jim. "But Rick, what do you need it all for?"

"Well, don't forget that the books I write have to be as accurate as possible. That accuracy is one of the things that can convince the reader that my world is real. Nothing can ruin a story sooner, than an obvious flaw. On top of that, interactions of characters are important as well. Aside from clichés, more movies mean more data for creating believable characters. As a side note, Kate will benefit because I know she likes a lot of movies, too. She's told me that she really likes John Woo movies. I can get them for her now. And if forecasts are right, these DVD things are the wave of the future."

"Well, I'm very pleased with what you've got here. I noticed you have quite a number of books about babies. Need a little help there?" Jim asked, questioning.

"Well, I know Kate and I are always eager for you guys to teach us anything we need to know."

Kate took that opportunity to walk up. "You got that right, Dad. This is all new to me, and although we took care of Aunt Betty's son John when he was born 5 years ago. I know I was only 12, but I was able to spend some time and I picked up a little bit. But learning more is never bad. Rick and I have jumped into the deep end on this. Anything that will help is welcome!"

Rick smiled at Kate and he gave her a hug. "I'll go check on the girls. Why don't you two go in and mingle."

Kate and her dad walked over and sat down in the luxurious living room. They had purchased three large couches for people to sit on, as well as a few single chairs. Including a recliner, too.

Johanna and Martha were at it again. "Martha? Where did you get this fabulous dip? I love it!"

"Oh, I'm friends with Chef Lagasse. I had him make it for the party. He made all the things I brought. I don't really cook much, myself."

"Well, I've been showing Katie how to make a lot of my favorite dishes over the years. I hope she can show them to you soon. She really enjoys cooking for others. But not so much just for herself." Johanna just noticed that Kate and Jim had walked up. "Katie! This place is lovely! Are the girls going to be in the bedroom next to yours and Ricks?"

"Yes. We also picked up one of those baby monitors so that we'll know if they cry out during the night. Of course, since Rick got us a big King-sized bed, there might be a few times when the girls sleep with us, just like I slept with you guys once in a while."

"Well, that was a long time ago. I really love the place you have here. Plenty of room for the girls, and for yourselves. I'll admit I'm still not too thrilled about being a police officer, but you have a few years before they'll hire you. You have to be at least 21. You have time."

Rick finally came out of the girls room. He went to the kitchen, got out two bottles and some champagne flutes. He filled enough of them and walked around the room, giving glasses to each person. Once they all had their drink, he cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention, raised his glass, and said.

"Everyone, please excuse the Sparkling Cider. A few of us here are not yet of drinking age. But, putting that aside, I'd like to make a toast. First, to all of you. You've helped Kate and I excel in our lives. You've assisted where you can, and advised where you could not. Your guidance, support, and love mean everything to us.

Second, to my lovely wife Kate, and our adorable daughters, Alexis and Lacey. They are our shining light, our home at the end of the day, and our future as time passes. I know life is difficult and challenging. It is the hope of Kate and I that we are able to do for our daughters, what has been done for us. I hope to show them the love that I have been given by Kate."

"The love I feel for Kate will never die. It is her that I yearn to see when I awaken each night and to see when I close my eyes at night. The person who always feels my heart, and who I always try to fill her heart, as well. I only hope that our daughters can find as perfect a companion in life as I have with Kate. Thank you"

Kate wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and kissed him she felt his arm wrap around her waist her lips smiled against the kiss. Johanna rested her shoulder on her husband's shoulder Jim whispered things in Johanna's ear that made Johanna giggle.

Joe noticed his mother was upset his mother had given up her acting career for him and his brother and deserved so much better than her three money stealing ex-husbands. "I love you, mother," Joe said taking his mother's hand.

"I love you too darling," Martha said kissing her son's cheek.

**And Scene. (I just had to say that)**

**Thank you all for reviews, follows and favoriting the story.**

**One shots of Alexis and Lacey as babies will be up soon if you have any one shot ideas please inbox me or leave them down in the review box.**

**And the squeal is coming soon.**


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